Union Minister Of Commerce Interacts with Fishers and Seafood Exporters

Shri Piyush Goyal greeted by Dr. K N Raghavan, Chairman MPEDA

Shri Piyush Goyal, Honorable Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Textiles, GoI visiting MPEDA HO Kochi on 6th June 2022. He had interactions with the Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI) as well as fishers from the States of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karnataka and Kerala. During the meeting with exporters,  Shri K.N. Raghavan Chairman MPEDA, has presented a road map targeting the export turnover of Rs. 1 Lakh crores by 2025. Hon’ble Minister has assured interventions from his side to minimize the hurdles on the import of raw materials for value addition so that India can be transformed  to a seafood processing hub in near future.

The Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI) was represented by Shri Jagdish Fofandi , National President and Regional Presidents from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala besides other exporters from different states. The exporters were urged by the Minister to educate, assist and encourage the fishers to follow the sustainable measures in fishing and also to preserve the catch the quality so that they will get better returns. Hon’ble Minister has also informed the Indian missions abroad have geared up to help the exporters in expanding the trade. Minister has also informed that India has entered into free trade agreement with many countries and there are forthcoming trade negotiations with EU as well.

The central Govt. is on fast track mode to have trade pacts with importing nations. All these are envisaged to enhance the export trade from the country, and the trade relaxations will not only benefit the exporters, but our fishers and farmers also.

The fishers who met the Hon’ble Minister has given a representation requesting that the Central Govt. may fight in WTO against its plan to stop fisheries subsidies which is targeted at artisanal and small scale fishers in developing nations.