New Delhi, June 19 (KNN) In a bid to tap international markets, the Government of India has directed exporters particularly from the food and agriculture sector to strictly comply with international norms for quality and standards.

The government has also warned the exporters that by failing to meet the mandatory obligations, they might lose their export share to other countries.

Emphasizing on the need and importance of adopting best standards for goods and services, Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia said it is critical to promote manufacturing, exports and enhancing participation of domestic industry into global value chains.

On account of compliance issues, Indian exporters from food and agriculture sectors are repetitively facing trade barriers, Teaotia added.

Also, she said “Such situations are prevalent in discerning markets like the US, European Union and Japan and if Indian producers are unable to meet mandatory obligations for standards including the sanitary and phytosanitary (related with plants and animals) measures, we may lose our share of export market to other countries.”

Teaotia was speaking at the National Standards Conclave, organized by the Commerce Ministry and industry body CII.

She said promulgation of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures are very important as India receives so many alerts from these countries.

With regard to this, we have initiated an inter-ministerial space where agriculture ministry, health ministry and agencies like FSSIA, Export Inspection Council, Apeda and MPEDA are working together to be able to respond more appropriately and efficiently to these alerts, she added.

Further, she informed that Indian National Strategy for Standardization (INSS) will be released today and rquested the industry to give feedback on the suggestions made in the report.

INSS recommends wide range of policy directions such as standard settings, conformity assessment, accreditation, SPS and technical regulations as well as awareness building, training and education.

"It recommends an implementation framework for realizing these goals, identification of the responsible agencies and related activities taken by them and time frames for achieving these milestones. It has a finite time," the secretary said.

It has also suggested setting up of a high-level committee for regular reviews, monitoring and publication of results.

She also highlighted the 3 key areas-manufacturing, services and food and agro products that are important from standards perspective.

Global value chains, she said, are fast emerging as a key driver of standards, and participation in these requires uniform standards worldwide.

She emphasized on the need to access global standards, working towards harmonization and adopting global value standards.

Teaotia said the government has advised all the line ministries to create and strengthen their technical wings for identifying specific standards and technical regulations needed.

She also stressed on the need to promote brand India for Indian products and make them globally acceptable.

Talking about global standards in services, Teaotia said it is in nascent stage unlike in goods."We will have to take lead in development of standards in this sector.”