India has started exporting rice, meat, milk products and processed food items after the government took steps to resolve issues related to transportation and packaging during the lockdown. The Union Ministry of Agriculture issued a statement saying that the Agricultural Export Promotion Association of Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) is addressing the problems of exporters. Export of all major products like rice, groundnut, processed foods, meat, poultry, milk, and organic products has started.
APEDA has made considerable efforts and issues related to transportation, curfew passes and packaging units are being resolved. The government has so far issued 9,759 plant certificates for export. NAFED has exported 50 thousand tons of wheat to Afghanistan on special demand and 40 thousand tons of grain to Lebanon under the G2G agreement.
As far as imports are concerned, the government said that digital copies of plant certificates are being accepted from importers with an oath to file the original. Around 2,728 consignments were released for import so far. Apart from this, 33 import permits for import of pesticides, 309 certificates for export of pesticides and 1,324 certificates were issued to indigenous producers of pesticides.
