Centre to certify exportable organic dairy products

Gujarat’s popular dairy brand, Amul, will soon be able to export organic dairy products. The Central government is working on setting standards for organic dairy products that can be exported. The standards are likely to be drafted by the end of December 2010.

“The demand for organic food, including dairy and agricultural products, is increasing across the world. Even in India, exports of organic products are increasing by almost 100 per cent. Looking at the worldwide demand, we have decided to issue certificates to the dairies for export of organic dairy products,” director of Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda), S Dave told DNA.

For the past three years, Apeda has been issuing certificates to organic farms. “Gradually, we also started certifying a group of farmers. We now want to further promote organic products that can be exported. We have therefore decided to lay out the norms and issue certificates for dairy products,” said Dave.

 “There is a huge demand for organic cheese, organic butter and similar other products. Once we are ready to issue certificates, the company can start exporting its organic dairy products, which have a huge market in the US, Europe, Switzerland, Japan, Korea and few other countries,” he added.