Minutes of the 91st Meeting of the Exim Committee for export and import of Seeds and Planting Materials held under the Chairmanship of Addl. Secretary (Seeds), Government of India, DAC on 2nd February 2004.
The meeting was held under the Chairmanship of Additional Secretary Shri Champak Chatterjee of DAC and the meeting was attended by officers from ICAR, Horticulture, PPA and other organizations. The list of participants is annexed as Annexure-I.
Item No.1: Proposal for export of 1 MT Onion seeds c.v. Royal Selection to Jakarta, Indonesia by M/s. Seminis Vegetable Seeds (India) Ltd., Aurangabad – 431 105.
The Committee recommended export of 1 MT Onion seeds c.v. Royal Selection to Jakarta, Indonesia by M/s. Seminis Vegetable Seeds (India) Ltd., Aurangabad.
Item No. 2: Proposal for revalidation for export of 25.5 MT Onion seeds c.v. Rampur Red and Nasik Red to Srilanka by M/s. Rajeshwari Agencies, 87/2, Martin Road, Bellary – 583 101, Karnataka.
The Committee recommended the revalidation of permit for export of balance quantity of 25.5 MT Onion seeds c.v. Rampur Red and Nasik Red out of total quantity of 35 MT recommended for export by 82nd EXIM Committee meeting held on 10th Dec., 2004 to Srilanka by M/s. Rajeshwari Agencies, 87/2, Martin Road, Bellary – 583 101, Karnataka.
Item No.3: Proposal for export of 35 MT Onion seeds c.v. Rampur Red & Nasik Red (22.5 MT and 12.5 MT) to Srilanka by M/s. Rajeshwari Agencies, 8/7(2), Martin Road, Bellary – 583 101, Karnataka.
The Committee deferred the proposal under reference with the instruction that the company in question has to comply the recommendation of the 82nd EXIM Committee meeting with regards to export of Onion in the first instance before seeking further export recommendation.
Item No.4: Proposal for import of 4 kg. Papaya hybrid seeds c.v. Sinta F1 from Thailand by M/s. East West Seeds India Pvt. Ltd., 5-B Tapadia Estate, near A.S. Club, Aurangabad.
The Committee deferred the proposal, as the variety in question has not been tested in India as required under New Policy on Seed Development. However, the Committee recommended the import of 500 grams (Five hundred grams) of Papaya hybrid seeds c.v. Sinta F1 from Thailand by M/s. East West Seeds India Pvt. Ltd., 5-B Tapadia Estate, near A.S. Club, Aurangabad for testing in All India Coordinated Trials for disease and yield subject to Plant Quarantine (Regulation of Import into India) Order, 2003 and amendments made thereon.
Item No.5: Proposal for import of 1,00,000 Nos. of Oil Palm sprouts c.v. Tenera from ASD de Costa Rica by M/s. Sical Oil Palm Corporation Ltd., Ampapuram, Bapulapadu, Krishna Distt. – 521 109.
The Committee deferred the proposal for want of recommendation from the Government of Andhra Pradesh as required under New Policy on Seed Development, 1988.
Item No.6: Proposal for import of 50,000 Nos. of Oil Palm sprouts c.v. Tenera from ASD de Costa Rica by M/s Simhapuri Agritech, 318 Sri Soudha, 100 Feet Road, Indiranagar 1st State, Bangalore – 560 038.
The Committee recommended for import of 50,000 Nos. of Oil Palm sprouts c.v. Tenera from ASD de Costa Rica by M/s Simhapuri Agritech, 318 Sri Soudha, 100 Feet Road, Indiranagar 1st State, Bangalore – 560 038, subject to Plant Quarantine (Regulation of Import into India) Order, 2003 and amendments made thereon.
Item No.7: Proposal for import of 250 kg. Kangkong seeds c.v. Liao-9 from Thailand by M/s. East West Seeds India Pvt. Ltd., 5-B Tapadia Estate, near A.S. Club, Aurangabad.
The Committee deferred the proposal for want of Pest Risk Analysis Report to be conducted by the Plant Protection Adviser to the Government of India. Therefore, Committee advised the party to approach PPA for the purpose stated above.
Item No. 8: Proposal for import of 550 MT Berseem seeds c.v. Mescavi from Egypt by M/s. Garnier Seeds (India) Pvt. Ltd., 110 Local Shopping Centre, Gujaranwala Town Part-I, Delhi – 110 009.
The Committee deferred the proposal for want of data about the availability and requirement of seed in the country from Seed Association of India and Department of Animal Husbandry. The Committee also noted that inspite of repeated request from Seed Division, the data related to requirement and availability is yet to be furnished by the Department of Animal Husbandry. Committee further desired that Seed Association of India may provide the required information so as to consider the proposal in consultation with Department of Animal Husbandry.
Item No. 9: Proposal for import of 220 MT Berseem seeds c.v. Mescavi from Egypt by M/s. Premier Crops (P) Ltd., Pitampura, Delhi – 110 034.
The Committee deferred the proposal for want of data about the availability and requirement of seed from the country from Seed Association of India and Department of Animal Husbandry. The Committee also noted that inspite of repeated request from Seed Division, the data related to requirement and availability is yet to be furnished by the Department of Animal Husbandry. Committee further desired that Seed Association of India may provide the required information so as to consider the proposal in consultation with Department of Animal Husbandry.
Item No. 10: Proposal for import of Citrus Germplasm/Planting material c.v. (Rootstock seeds 49.5 quarts), (finished trees 900 Nos.) and Budwood 5400 Nos.), as per Annexure-I from California, USAS by M/s. Punjab Agri. Expoprt Corporation Ltd., 2-A, Sector 28-A, Madhya Marg, Chandigarh – 160 002.
The Committee noted that the proposal in question has been deferred by the 90th EXIM Committee for want of information about the earlier import of Citrus and its performance evaluated by some competent person.
The company in question has submitted the report that the Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana who is the designated authority, supervised earlier imported material. Director of Horticulture, Punjab informed that the performance of the imported material by the company is satisfactory.
Taking into consideration of the above, Committee recommended the import of Citrus Germplasm/Planting material c.v. (Rootstock seeds 49.5 quarts), (finished trees 900 Nos.) and Budwood 5400 Nos.), from California, USAS by M/s. Punjab Agri. Expoprt Corporation Ltd., 2-A, Sector 28-A, Madhya Marg, Chandigarh – 160 002, subject to Plant Quarantine (Regulation of Import into India) Order, 2003 and amendments made thereon.
Item No. 11: Proposal for revalidation for import of 450 Nos. Raspberry, Blueberry and Blackberry plants from USA by M/s. Namdhari Seeds, Bidadi – 562 109, Bangalore.
The company in question was recommended to import above material by the 82nd EXIM Committee meeting held on December 2003. Since the company was not in a position to comply the recommendation for import of above material for the last two years, therefore, the Committee rejected the proposal for revalidation.
Item No.12: Foreign Trade Policy for the year 2005-06.
The Committee noted the communication of Trade Division of DAC with regards to principles of restrictions on the items listed for export of Onion and 49 commodities of import of seeds and planting material for review of the Trade Policy for the year 2005-06. Since the issue requires considerable debate on all the items with the concerned authorities, it was, therefore, desired to convene a separate meeting by the Trade Division so as to come to the conclusion in this regard.
Item No. 13: Proposal for import of 83,000 Nos. Grapes planting materials of eight varieties from France by M/s. Cabernet Veneyards Pvt. Ltd., 366 Veer Savarkar Marg, Dadar, Mumbai – 400 028.
The Committee deferred the proposal, as the proposal in question has no information about the nature of material to be imported by the company. Therefore, it was desired to get the clarification from the company concerned about the nature of material whether it is a cutting, runner, root stock, bud, etc. to be imported so as to take the decision in this regard.
In the meeting it was also decided to put up the action taken report as the first item of the earlier meetings of the EXIM Committee.
The meeting ended with a vote of thanks to the Chair.