The Bhutan Food and Drug Authority and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India recently held a bilateral meeting in New Delhi to discuss the implementation protocol for exporting food, agricultural, and livestock products to India. This meeting followed an agreement signed between the two organisations earlier this year, enabling the Bhutan Food and Drug Authority to certify food and agricultural products for export in the Indian market in line with Indian food safety standards.
The Bhutan Food and Drug Authority said that the bilateral agreement will simplify exports and lower compliance costs.
According to the authority, the agreement is designed to ease the burden of routine inspections, testing, and certification required for exports to India.
It will also minimise documentation hassles, as exporters will only need a health certificate issued by the authority.
Businesses exporting food and agricultural products expect to benefit from the agreement.
Kinley Wangmo, owner of Bhutan Hydroponics said “For us, this is a great news. Till now, we have been facing a hard time while exporting. Products from our country are loved and received well by foreigners. So, this should help us a lot while exporting”
She added that obtaining export certification had been costly up until now.
Ugyen Dendup, CEO of Serkar Dairy Pvt. Ltd said “When we think of export, we only think of Indian market because that is next to our border. So, in the long run, we definitely would like to make sure that our products are available in the Indian market. And the recent agreement between BFDA and Indian Food Safety Authority for the reciprocal recognition will simplify the process of exporting Bhutanese products to the Indian market.”
Exporters also said that the government should seek similar agreements with other countries.
Kinley Pelden, Founder of YiGa Chocolate said “If we really want to survive long, our chocolate market has to be global. So, we intend to expand. So, in the next one year, we intend to be at least in five countries. So, right now, the initiatives of BFDA will definitely help because of the mutual recognition.”
According to the food and drug authority, the agreement also aims to enhance technical cooperation to facilitate and improve trade between the two countries.
There are plans to provide capacity building for exporters and officials on the import clearance system.
Additionally, integrated assessments and efforts to strengthen the testing capabilities of the National Food Testing Laboratory will be implemented.
