GUWAHATI, Dec 29 — The horticulture products of the North East has often failed to make a mark in the export market primarily because of the huge costs involved in its transportation to the exporting centres. The Centre has now decided to offset this disadvantage by offering inland transport assistance for horticulture products. Exporters of banana, guava, lemon, orange, pear, pineapple, plum, ginger, passion fruit and even cut flowers from all the north eastern states, including Sikkim, can now avail the Central assistance that will considerably reduce their transportation costs. The assistance will be released through the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), a Central government organisation.
According to APEDA regional manager in Guwahati Bidyut Barua, assistance will be given in case of shipments effected from Guwahati or Kolkata airports or Kolkata seaport. Subsidy at the rate of Re 1 per kg will be paid to all exporters registered with the APEDA for transportation of their products to Guwahati airport. For transportation of products from the inland container depot (ICD) in Amingaon here to Haldia port in West Bengal, a subsidy of Rs 2 per kg will be offered. Perishable commodities will receive special attention with upto 75 per cent subsidy on airfreight costs from any airport in the North East to Kolkata airport. According to Barua, apart from the products identified by the APEDA, the scheme can be extended to all other horticultural products provided they are organically produced. The scheme is available right now for the region’s horticulture exporters.
The APEDA has additionally been offering several other incentives for potential exporters from the North East. It has a scheme for covering a part of the airfreight costs involved in participating in international trade fairs under its Marketing Development Assistance scheme. According to Barua, there is a special provision for giving prominence for processed food products from the North East with special stalls in all international trade fairs where APEDA participates. The region’s exporters can display their products in these stalls free of cost. APEDA has also launched a special section on its website for displaying the North East products in its ‘virtual trade fair.’
According to the APEDA, there is a need for the North East processed food producers to improve their packaging and quality. APEDA is supporting the quality improvement efforts of exporters by reimbursing consultation fees for certifications like the ISO. It helps in improving packaging too. There is a scheme under which producers are offered Rs 2 lakh for bringing out broachers of their products. Barua says that there is a need to improve the quality of the North East products to make it acceptable in the international market. There is also a need to enhance export capacities since the demands of importers are huge. According to him, the time to do all that is just right since 2005 will bring the open market regime.