At the 19th session of the joint India-Russia Working Group, to study the scope of Comprehensive Economic Co-operation Agreement (CECA), some major issues to be addressed by the Indian side are: 1) Issues related to Market Access faced by Veterinary and agro products; 2) issues related to export of bovine meat and egg powder to Russia and 3) Issues related to standards of Indian products in Russian Markets.

These issues to be addressed are mainly for veterinary and agriculture products. There is lot more to be addressed by the Working Group from on the non-agricultural sector too.

Exporting egg powder India has no record of exporting egg powder to Russia. However, after witnessing consecutive fall in quantity exported during 2009 and 2010, exports of egg powder from India to the world have increased substantially from 2011 onwards.

In 2013, India was the 10th largest exporter of egg powder with over 10,000 tonnes shipped. The position of India was even better in terms of value fetched for the exports. It was ranked seventh with the unit value averaging at $4,794/tonne.

The poultry industry in Russia is among the fastest growing industry. In 2013, Russia announced that it was self-sufficient in poultry and egg production.

According to a statement of former Russian Agricultural Minister, in 2009, the country may need to put quota system for poultry and egg production as the market may be oversupplied due to excess production. Another interesting feature of the Russian poultry industry is that around 75 to 80 per cent of production there comes from large farms which enjoy economies of scale.

Under such circumstances, it will not be beneficial for the Ministry of Agriculture, to put egg powder exports to Russia in the priority list.

Issues related to standards According to the database of WTO SPS information management system, Russia has so far issued a single SPS measure against India due to presence of Capra Beetle in Indian rice and groundnut. International Plant Protection Convention of WTO allows country to restrict imports of particular products from a particular country if there is a chance of spread of insect pest to importing country.

Thus the action taken by Russia in this regard can be justified. However, the government is expected to take a serious note of the Capra Beetle to avoid such situation in future.

Russia has also issued several SPS and TBT measures not specifically against India but against all trading partners.

A study conducted by Exim Bank during 2014 reveals that Indian exporters are able to tackle those SPS and TBT notifications which are raised against India alone while their response for the notification raised against all the countries are inadequate.

Thus, the government should intervene in the market so as to increase the compliance by exporters to build a better image in the international market.

Vet & Agro exports An analysis of exports of veterinary and agro products from India to Russia reveals that there are at least 147 products with six digits HS Code level, for which the average exports during last three years (2011-13) are less than the average exports during 2001-2010.

Among these 147 products, exports of tea top with a difference between two averages above $9 million followed by fruits (guava and mangosteen) and fish products.

From 2007 onwards, Indian exporters have not been exporting bovine products to Russia. The other products in the list of top 10 are HS 070700 (cucumber and gherkins), HS 120100 (soyabeans), HS 210120 (tea or mate extracts, essences and concentrates and preparations thereof), HS 081290 (fruits and nuts provisionally preserved but unfit for immediate consumption), etc.

At the upcoming (20th) session of the working group, the Ministry should have a clear agenda to revitalise exports of commodities for which India has lost its market share in Russia.

The writer is associated with National Institute of Agriculture Marketing, Jaipur. Views are personal.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW