Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada told the Parliament on August 5 that as a result of various measures taken by the Centre, the number of Indian products rejected by importing countries have registered a decline of 12.5 per cent in June this year compared to the corresponding figure for the same month of the previous year. He said that the steps taken by the Government include measures to increase quality consciousness through Quality Control Orders and alignment of standards with international benchmarks, which have enhanced the global competitiveness of the country’s exports, leading to a drop in the rejection rate.
Prasada also pointed out that every country faces such issues of rejection due to various non-tariff measures, including quality, phytosanitary standards, and packaging and labelling norms imposed by importing countries. Importing countries keep issuing regulations from time to time regarding residue limits for various products, especially from the angle of food safety and health. Information about such regulations is disseminated among the exporters in order to ensure a smooth flow of exports from India, the minister said.
The agencies concerned, such as the Export Inspection Council, the Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), other Commodity Boards, and Export Promotion Councils (EPCs), monitor such rejection cases regularly and take appropriate corrective and preventive measures.
These steps include capacity building of exporters, stricter pre-export controls, enhanced laboratory testing and stakeholder sensitisation to ensure compliance with the standards of importing countries and to minimise such occurrences in the future, he added. Meanwhile, India’s merchandise exports during June 2025 were estimated at $35.14 billion as compared to $35.16 billion in June 2024, according to the latest data compiled by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
