India is one of the largest producers of a number of agriculture commodities and the European Union (EU) is one of the largest export markets for India. In 2015-16, India’s export of agricultural commodities to the EU was more than five times higher than the EU’s exports to India. While the EU continues to be a key export destination for Indian agricultural exports, in recent years a number of Indian agricultural products have been facing rejection and export bans in the EU due to standards related to food quality, safety and health, also known as sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures. The European Commission (EC) funded EU-India Capacity-Building Initiative for Trade and Development (CITD) project, which was launched in the year 2013, provides a platform to build the capacity of various Indian stakeholders on how to address different trade related issues, including the SPS issues. Under this project, the objective of this report is to study SPS related barriers faced by India’s agricultural exports to key markets, identify the reasons for such barriers and make recommendations on addressing barriers through greater collaboration and knowledge sharing with the EU.
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