Japan And India Sign Agreement For Cooperation On Food Safety

Japan and India will work together on the issue of food safety. This was announced at the session on ‘How can we enhance accessibility to Japanese food in India?’ jointly organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and JETRO in New Delhi, recently, in the presence of Special Advisor to the Prime Minister of Japan, Mr. Mitsuhiro Miyakoshi and the Chairperson of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), Mr. Ashish Bahuguna.

As per the announcement, a FSSAI delegation will visit Japan for strengthening food safety cooperation and a meeting for information exchange on food safety will be held, coinciding with this visit.

This announcement was followed by the signing of MoU between Ise Foods Inc. and the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI), Government of India, as per which the Japanese food major will invest approximately Rs. 217-crore in a poultry farm and egg processing facility, as part of its Ise-Suzuki India Mega Project, in Telangana, beginning next year.

Mr. Miyakoshi announced the signing of two very important announcements: an agreement on phytosanitary measures for the marine food trade between India and Japan; and the setting up of a Joint Working Group on cold chain between the two countries.

Mr. Bahuguna observed that Japanese foods are known for their safety as well as their nutritional value. He stated that Japanese food has slowly been introduced into India and efforts are being made to adapt Japanese food to Indian tastes.

Mr. Parag Gupta, Joint Secretary, MoFPI, was of the view that there was much more potential for Japanese companies to invest in India, given the fact that it has the technology and knowhow in terms of food processing.