Indias Union Cabinet has approved a proposal to establish the Indian Grape Processing Board (IGPB). The total funds allocated for this purpose by the government over a three-year period is about US$1.21 million. Highlights of the new board are:
l  The Ministry will register IGPB as a society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. IGPB will be autonomous from its very inception. The board, initially facilitated by the government and managed/driven by the industry, is expected to boost growth of the sector, benefiting both the producers and the processors;
l  The headquarters of the board will be at Pune, Maharashtra, which is close to the principal grape growing/processing areas in the country;
l  IGPB will foster the sustainable development of the Indian wine industry and will focus on R&D, extension, quality upgrading market research and information, and domestic and international promotion of Indian wine; and
l  The expected outcomes of the board will be to increase awareness and capacity building among farmers, processors as well as other stakeholders resulting in higher productivity, reduced wastage, and improved quality of grapes and wine that comply with global standards.

Source: pib.nic.in

A China-Canada project was the first international co-operation project focusing on the development of small farmers in China since its accession to the WTO. This projects purpose was to raise the market competitiveness of Chinese small farmers in adapting to domestic and international markets. With the support of the Canadian International Development Agency, the project started in April 2003 and was jointly executed by Chinas Ministries of Commerce and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. According to the Ministry of Commerce, policy research in the field of food safety provides valuable references for the legislation of the Food Safety Law (Draft), the Agricultural Product Quality Safety Law (which has been enacted), as well as the drafting of rules like those governing the food recall and pig slaughtering.

The policy research on WTO negotiations mainly includes market access and sanitary and phytosanitary measures and tariff-related trade barriers. Some research results achieved in the area of agricultural administration have already been adopted by policy documents issued by the State Council. The project established 95 pilot villages in five counties in Sichuan province and Inner Mongolia. By the end of 2007, the project had trained about 15,000 person-times for farmers, personnel who promote agricultural technologies, people from processing enterprises and local officials in both Canada and China. Compared with that in 2003 when the project was initiated, the farmers in the five pilot counties of the 2008 project reported an income increase of up to 50 per cent.

Source: english.people.com.cn

Viet Nam shipped seafood to 26 out of 27 EU countries. The United States market made up only 16.5 per cent of Viet Nams export market structure as compared with 20.4 per cent in the previous year. The Republic of Korea was placed fourth among Viet Nams top importers of seafood. Russia was Viet Nams top importer of tra and basa catfish, with a 142 per cent and 109 per cent rise in terms of volume and value, respectively. Ukraine proved to be a phenomenon in 2008 as its imports of Vietnamese seafood grew by 202.6 per cent in volume and 221.1 per cent in value.

Source : english.vovnews.vn

The rice by-products industry the world over has evolved into a multi-billion dollar venture. Rice bran cooking oil, perceived as the healthiest plant-based edible oil, is now highly commercialized in Thailand. Chicken-flavoured instant porridge (arroz caldo) is in the market in Japan, in addition to the popular rice milk and rice wine. In the United States, the most popular breakfast cereals are Kellogs rice Krispies; in California, Knorr has been marketing instant goto and champorado.

Snack items (puto, suman, bibingka and so on) have become common in the Philippines. Rice-based chiffon cakes, brownies and cream puffs have also been developed. Likewise, now in the pipeline are rice-based drinks or beverages (beer, tea, coffee and wine) and fortified products (rice noodles, espasol, canned rice and sprouted brown rice). In the Republic of Korea, processing of rice by-products such as rice cakes, sweets, gruels, flavours, wines and drinks has been expanding, states Mr. Jeong Heon-Sang and Mr. Kim Kee-Jong of the Rural Development Administration (RDA). Currently, the Republic of Koreas leading processed rice food is the aseptically packaged cooked rice Haetban.

Source: www.philstar.com

A study by the Asian Food Information Centre (AFIC), Singapore, reveals that Indians are more confident about food safety levels than citizens in most Asian nations, notably China and Japan. Interestingly, the study pointed out that 84 per cent of Indians are ready to purchase biotech food such as tomato, food staples and cooking oils. India has so far not approved commercial production of any genetically modified (GM) food products. Only Bt cotton has been allowed for commercial output while Bt brinjal is undergoing field trials.

The study assumes significance, especially in view of the fact that the approval for GM crops in India has always been a controversial matter with organizations like Greenpeace India voicing concerns about various safety-related and other issues with such products. The government, too, has been more vigilant than ever about food safety norms. Already, concerned over the existence of fake and adulterated food products, the Food Safety Standards Authority (FSSA) under the Ministry of Health is preparing draft guidelines. Mr. P.I. Suvrathan, FSSA Chairman, has stated that suitable laws would be brought in to even force a recall of contaminated products. India has also decided to put in place a mechanism, possibly by 2010, to scrutinize all imported items to avoid the inflow of any contaminated products.

Sources: www.indiajournal.com

A Chinese parsley sample had trace amounts of a pesticide called isocarbophos while the other five vegetable and fruit samples contained excessive cadmium. Apart from the 19 unsatisfactory fresh meat samples, which were announced earlier, there were seven other unsatisfactory samples including a frozen suckling pig sample containing excessive veterinary drug residue, two smoked pork sausage and two fresh beef samples having non-permitted food additives and two marinated chicken gizzard samples infected with Salmonella. A fried mud carp ball contained malachite green while three ling fillet samples and three black cod samples had excessive mercury. Apart from the two poon choi samples and an egg, one dietary supplement was found to contain the non-permitted sweetener stevioside.

Source: www.news.gov.hk

Mr. Wahid states Anggerek coffee did not face much problems in Sarawak with the existence of the strong marketing and distribution network that has captured 80 per cent of the coffee market in Malaysias biggest state. Among the factors for Anggerek coffee powder to be popular in Sarawak is the use of original coffee beans, margarine, wheat and sugar besides guaranteed cleanliness and no additive is added, such as dry coconut, in the processing.

Source : www.bernama.com.my

In India, the industrial capacity for processing fruits and vegetables reached 2.68 million tonnes at the beginning of 2008. The categorization of industrial units under Fruit Products Order, 1955, is based on annual production limit. The Minister of State for Food Processing Industries stated that the number of licensed units, according to annual production limit, is as follows:

l  Large scale: above 250 t (656 licensed units);
l  Small scale (B): up to 250 t (390 licensed units);
l  Small scale (A): up to 100 t (435 licensed units);
l  Home scale (B): up to 10 t (1,906 licensed units); and
l  Cottage scale: up to 50 t (1,153 licensed units).

Website: pib.nic.in