Ministry of Environment and Forest issued a Draft Gazette
Notification seeking comments from the public and interested parties where they have enlisted 426 plant species /plant parts, the
preamble of which reads as follows:"In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 40 of the
Biological Diversity Act, 2002 (18 of 2003), and in supersession of the
previous notification, the Central Government, in consultation with the
National Biodiversity Authority, hereby declares that the provisions of this
Act shall not apply to the following biological resources specified in column
(3) of the table, provided they are traded as commodities and subject to terms
enumerated in the explanatory notes as given below. The source of the
biological resource (cultivated/wild) and the part being traded as commodity
along with other details shall be declared by the trader/exporter as per a
self-declaration form given in the annexure, a copy of which shall be submitted
to the National Biodiversity Authority."
Here, I would like to quote Section 40 of
the BD Act refers to NTC as under: “Notwithstanding anything contained in this
Act, the Central Government may, in consultation with the NBA, by notification
in its official gazette, declare that the provisions of the Act shall not apply
to any items, including biological resources, as normally traded commodities”.
In the proposed
list of MOEF; 426 biological resources/ their plant parts or whole plant; in cereals and Millets only grains and whole plants are included and exempted from
the purview of National Biodiversity Authority in case of exports. Whereas, in
case of Pulses, Oilseeds, Fibre Crops, Forage Crops (for some species) seeds
are considered as Normally Traded Commodities.
I strongly feel NBA should review the draft for amendments the seeds of Cereals and Millets in the list of Normally Traded
Commodities which would benefit Indian seed industry to
operate international business in a conducive environment, I present my justification as below:
·
As per the Proceedings of the Meeting of Brainstorming
Session and National Consultation on Issues related to Normally Traded
Commodities On April 13 and 14, 2012 At Hotel Residency Towers, Chennai.
“‘Normal trading’ means that it is traded in significant quantities, the level
of significance will depend upon the type of commodity and should be defined in
the proposed database”.
o As evident in the data
presented in Table 1 below, seeds of major cereals such as Rice and Maize are
exported extensively i.e. considering an average of last four years 10144.38
‘000 Kg of Rice and 19462.69 ‘000 Kg of Maize has been exported. Exports of
Millets started recently and significant quantites have been exported in last
two years, it is expected to gain pace in near future as per the trends and prevailing
market situations.
o As compared to the export data of seeds of
those species which are considered for inclusion under the purview of Normally
Traded Commodities in the Draft Notification by Ministry of environment,
forests and climate change (Table 1 and 2); the quantites of seeds exported for
Cereal and Millet seeds are significant
and at par.
o As
evident from the export value of major cereals and millets (Table 1.2); the
share percentage of the overall exports and value of seeds export is at par
with the exempted commodities.
Table 1. Yearwise quantity of Seed Export of Different
Crops for last five years:
SN
|
Crop
|
Crop Category
|
HC Code
|
Status of NTC received/
not as per Draft Notification by
Ministry of environment, forests and climate change
|
Exported Quantity in
Thousands (Kg)
|
|
|
|
|
|
2011-2012
|
2012-2013
|
2013-2014
|
2014-2015
|
2015-2016 (Till July
2015)
|
1.
|
Rice (Oryza sativa)
|
Cereal
|
10061010
|
Not NTC
|
9218.84
|
12975.78
|
10209.91
|
8173
|
2762
|
2.
|
Maize (Zea mays)
|
Cereal
|
10051000
|
Not NTC
|
18127.89
|
12384.43
|
24264.43
|
23,074
|
327.56
|
3.
|
Millet (Pennisetum
glaucum)
|
Cereal
|
10082120
|
Not NTC
|
NA
|
NA
|
25535.76
|
19464
|
4496.96
|
4.
|
Cotton (Gossypium
hirsutum)
|
Fibre
|
12072100 (other oil
seeds and oleaginous fruits, whether or not broken)
|
NTC
|
NA
|
NA
|
547.19
|
552
|
149
|
5.
|
Sesamum (Sesamum
indicum)
|
Oilseed
|
12074010
|
NTC
|
49526.38
|
39674.53
|
35817.63
|
36286.70
|
4251.84
|
6.
|
Mustard (Brassica
juncea)
|
Oilseed
|
12075010
|
NTC
|
2814.01
|
2313.55
|
1184.03
|
1617.21
|
146.86
|
Table 2. Yearwise quantity of Seed Export of Different
Crops for last three years[1]:
SN
|
Crop
|
Crop Category
|
HC Code
|
Status of NTC received/
not as per Draft Notification by
Ministry of environment, forests and climate change
|
Value of Exported Commodities
in INR Lakhs and Percentage share of India’s total exports
|
|
|
|
|
|
2012-2013
|
% share
|
2013-2014
|
% share
|
2014-2015
|
% share
|
1.
|
Rice (Oryza sativa)
|
Cereal
|
10061010
|
Not NTC
|
13129.24
|
0.0080
|
7272.31
|
0.0038
|
11284.65
|
0.0059
|
2.
|
Maize (Zea mays)
|
Cereal
|
10051000
|
Not NTC
|
8590.16
|
0.0053
|
17313.11
|
0.0091
|
17847.17
|
0.0094
|
3.
|
Millet (Pennisetum glaucum)
|
Cereal
|
10082120
|
Not NTC
|
-
|
-
|
5733.26
|
0.0030
|
4400.97
|
0.0023
|
4.
|
Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum)
|
Fibre
|
12072100 (other oil seeds and
oleaginous fruits, whether or not broken)
|
NTC
|
-
|
-
|
154.14
|
0.0001
|
159.97
|
0.0001
|
5.
|
Sesamum (Sesamum indicum)
|
Oilseed
|
12074010
|
NTC
|
36646.87
|
0.0224
|
45904.04
|
0.0241
|
45148.95
|
0.0238
|
·
For export purposes; in case of seeds
only the domesticated and widely cultivated species of major cereals and
millets are utilized which are advanced hybrids/ varieties resulting from
extensive research and deveopment and are commercially potential, bulk exports
are not carried out for wild strains, land races, wild cultivars.
o
In ITC (HS),
2012 Schedule 2 – Export Policy, General Notes to Export Policy – Goods under
Restrictions; In cereals only export of wild variety of wheat and paddy seed is
restricted whereas Rice, Wheat and Maize (corn) of seed quality is free from
any trade restrictions.
o
These species/
cultivars are also not covered under vulnerable, near threatened, endangered
and critically endangered categories.
o
A considerable
percentage of these seeds are exported for trialing and research purposes, this
category also comprise of advanced research material.
o
Therefore, in
case of exports of major cereals and millets there is no risk such as
overexploitation of wild varieties/ land races/ local cultivars which could
push these species to the category of endangerment or uninformed sharing of
indegenous cultivars and associated traditional knowledge.
·
As per the Proceedings
of the Meeting of Brainstorming Session
and National Consultation on Issues related to Normally Traded Commodities On
April 13 and 14, 2012 At Hotel Residency Towers, Chennai. In TECHNICAL
SESSION-2, where characteristics of NTCs or NTACs are defined, referring to
point number (g) which states “Endangered species may be excluded from the NTC
definition; while exotics need to be treated as NTCs”.
o
Here, in case of Maize, it is believed to be originated from
The South Mexican and Central American Centre
whereas Pearlmillet from a defused belt stretching from western Sudan to
Senegal Harlan (1971) and Harlan et al. (1975), India is only considered as the
secondary centre of diversity (Brunken et. al., 1977).
o
Whereas, in case of Rice (Oryza sativa L.), the genetic diversity of various traits in local
cultivars of rice is greatest in the area extending from Assam in India and
Bangladesh to Myanmar and northern Thailand, and to Yunnan Province in China
(Oka, 1988). Thus,
rice also cannot be considered as solely indigenous as the origin is reported
to be shared amongst many Asian countries. Thus, as per the aforementioned
criteria seeds of major cereals and millet crop species can be included under
the purview of NTC’s and prior approval from NBA for exports can be exempted.
·
Of
more than 50 000 edible plant species in the world, just 15 crop plants provide
90 percent of the world's food energy intake, with three rice, maize and wheat
- making up two-thirds of this. These three are the staples of over 4 000
million people. Rice feeds almost half of humanity.
o
Whereas,
millets have been one of the important staples in the semi-arid tropics of Asia
and Africa for centuries. These crops are still the principal sources of
energy, protein, vitamins and minerals for millions of the poorest people in
these regions. Millets are grown in harsh environments where other crops grow
or yield poorly. They are grown with limited water resources and usually
without application of any fertilizers or other inputs by a multitude of
small-holder farmers in many countries. Therefore, and because they are mostly
consumed by disadvantaged groups, they are often referred to as "coarse
grain" or "poor people's crops". They are not usually traded in
the international markets or even in local markets in many countries. The farmers
seldom, therefore, have an assured market in the event of surplus production. Upliftment of Millets in
terms of research & development and trading is need of the hour. Considering
the food security issues arising out of regulating these crop species, seeds of
these crops should be allowed a free trade and should be provided the status of
Normally Traded Commodities.
