Chilli exporters hit as importers tighten safety standards

KOCHI: Indian chilli exporters are facing new challenges as importing nations tighten their food safety standards. This is bad news for chilli export which is now going through a bullish phase.

As part of its food safety laws, the US has started prescribing zero tolerance levels for food contaminants like aflatoxins and pesticide residues. The stringent norms have led to the rejection of a few consignments of chilli and chilli products from the country.

“There is no uniform global standard for detecting the aflatoxin and pesticide residue levels in chillies. Europe has set a maximum residue limit of 0.01 ppm (parts per million) while the US has tightened the norms further to zero tolerance levels without specifying any limit,” said Philip Kuruvilla, MD of Indian Products, a leading chilli exporting company.

Consequently, consignments are being detained because even a minute variation can cause problems. Some supplies have been rejected as they did not conform to the strict norms of Europe and the US, the principal markets for value-added chilli exports.

The emergence of Asian countries as the main buyers of Indian chillies has helped in boosting the exports as the testing norms are not that stringent there. Indian chilli exports have reached the target of 2 lakh tonnes two months before the close of the fiscal year because of good Asian demand. “The pesticide problems have become an increasing cause of concern though exports are booming.