India News | At MPEDA Golden Jubilee Event, Union Minister Says Govt Safeguarded Marine Farmers in WTO Talks
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. India succeeded in regulating countries involved in deep sea fishing and certain countries which were indulged in illegal fishing, while protecting the interests of farmers, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday.
Kochi, Aug 24 (PTI) India succeeded in regulating countries involved in deep sea fishing and certain countries which were indulged in illegal fishing, while protecting the interests of farmers, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday.
While speaking at the golden jubilee celebrations of the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) here, Goyal said the government safeguarded the interests of the country's marine farmers even in the last round of World Trade Organisation (WTO) discussions.
The Union Minister, who attended the meeting online, said MPEDA has played an instrumental role in the holistic development and promotion of seafood industry and is an integral part of the 'Blue Economy'.
"Glad that marine exports have reached USD 7.76 billion in FY22 that is 30 per cent up from the previous year... We succeeded in regulating countries involved in deep sea fishing and certain countries who indulged in illegal fishing, while at the same time fully protecting the interests of our farmers. India won concessions that could have otherwise threatened the subsidies that the government is giving for small-scale artisanal fishing activities," Goyal, said.
He said free-trade agreements (FTAs) are being signed to promote India's exports.
"The marine industry is in a sweet spot. India today is the third largest marine exporter in the world. We have 18,000 farmers who contribute to marine exports worth USD 20 million or more... There is a potential to add two lakh shrimp farmers in the next few years which will increase the current production of 40,000 tonne to 7 lakh tonne that is nearly 18 times today's production," Goyal said.
The golden jubilee celebrations of MPEDA were inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel.
Patel released LegaSea, a coffee-table book, at the function to mark MPEDA's completion of 50 years.
Patel, in her online address, said MPEDA has been adopting top-rate checking systems as part of its creative strategy to overcome such issues.
Noting that the future holds "very bright" for seafood owing to its rising domestic consumption and increasing demand the world over, she said its health benefits are immense. "The consumption pattern of the world population is shifting towards seafood," she added.
Lok Sabha member Hibi Eden said marine products make stupendous contributions towards India's exports, and called for better livelihood care of the country's fish workers who play a crucial role in the marine sector.
MPEDA Chairman Dodda Venkata Swamy, welcoming the gathering, said the organisation is making coordinated efforts to form a chain that would guarantee sustainability and high quality of seafood.
Overlapping with the country's 75th Independence Day festivities, Wednesday's event was addressed by MPEDA's former heads T K A Nair, K B Pillai and Leena Nair, Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation Chairman Paul Antony, MPEDA ex-chairman A Jayathilak and Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI) National President Jagadish Fofandi.
The function also saw the distribution of the MPEDA Export Awards for Outstanding Performance (2019-20 and 2020-21) under seven categories.
The awards went to the best manufacturer exporters of marine products based on an offline selection mode. A cultural programme by MPEDA members and their families followed.
MPEDA, founded in 1972 as a statutory body of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has taken India's marine exports to 1.4 million tonne (Rs 57,586 crore) as against 35,523 tonne in the year of inception.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)