Minister Som Parkash to Give Away Spices Board Awards to Exporters

KOCHI:
Spices Board will distribute on Saturday trophies and awards for excellence in the exports of spices, as Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash will honour the outstanding performers of the products.

At the February 22 function here, the minister will give away the 29th and 30th set of export awards to those exporters for their “commendable performance” during 2015-16 and 2016-17. Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan will be the guest of honour at the ceremony at the Taj Gateway Hotel in Marine Drive, Ernakulam.

The trophies are being presented to the topmost three exporters of the spices and spice products. Besides, there are awards for the topmost exporter in 19 product categories. The weekend ceremony (11 a.m) will be presided over by Hibi Eden, MP. It will be addressed by Alphons Kannathanam, MP; MLAs T J Vinod and P T Thomas; Spices Board Chairman Subhash Vasu and Secretary D Sathyan.

The Spices Board, founded in 1987 as the regulatory and export promotion agency for Indian spices, is headquartered in Kochi. The awards for 18 top exporters are for the following product categories: pepper, cardamom (small), cardamom (large), chillies, ginger, turmeric, coriander, cumin, fennel, fenugreek, nutmeg & mace, spices mixes/ curry powder, spice oils & oleoresins, mint & mint products, spices in branded consumer packs, organic spices, topmost exporter of spices from Northeastern Region, topmost exporter of spices among women entrepreneur and topmost exporter of spices/spice products among new entrepreneurs.

Further, the Minister will distribute Certificates of Merit to exporters for remarkable growth in exports over the previous year. The award function will be followed, on the sidelines, by a product launch of half-a-dozen projects. One is the Plant Protection Code (PPC) for small and large cardamom, which has been developed by the Indian Cardamom Research Institute to achieve sustainability in cardamom production.

Also to be launched is a Collaborative Project with Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) of WTO and Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations / Spices Board. Further, as part of the Spices Board’s efforts for sustainable production of quality spices for exports, ‘Strengthening the Spice Value Chain in India & Improving the Market Access through Capacity Building and Innovative Interventions’ is being launched. Spices Board has developed this product, too, in collaboration with FAO and STDF.

Another product to be launched is the National Sustainable Spice Programme (NSSP) that is an initiative jointly undertaken by the World Spice Organisation, which is a collective of exporters, Spices Board India and IDH – The Sustainable Trade Initiative & GIZ, Germany with technical support of Indian Institute of Spices Research & National Research Centre on Seed Spices with the objective of Focusing on ‘Food Safety & Sustainability’.

Spices Board is partnering with Exporters Associations and other stakeholders to organise the 14th edition of World Spice Congress later this year. The February 22 function here will feature a curtain raiser to that three-day event at Navi Mumbai (CIDCO Convention Centre) starting on November 7.

Flavourit Spices Trading Limited (FSTL), an initiative of Spices Board to create social development at grass root level. Spices and spice products under the ‘Flavourit’ brand are primarily sourced from farmers’ groups across the country and are promoted by FSTL, a fully-owned subsidiary of Spices Board. The awards function in Kochi will also hold on its sidelines the launch of the online sales of spices in GeM and other leading online market places.