• A commercial sea shipment of Indian Bhagwa variety of pomegranate reached New York, marking a significant milestone for India’s fresh fruits exports.

• The pomegranate season, which traditionally saw air freight as the primary mode of transportation, shifted gears in recent weeks to embrace the cost-effective and sustainable sea freight mode.

• After India had been granted market access by the US for pomegranates, during the season in 2023, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) in collaboration with United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS), National Plant Protection Organisation (NPPO-India) and National Research Centre for Pomegranate, Solapur (NRCP) successfully conducted the trial shipment of pomegranate to the US by air. 

• Owing to the success of the static trial to enhance the shelf life of pomegranates for up to 60 days by APEDA in collaboration with ICAR-National Research Centre for Pomegranate, India successfully flagged off its first trial commercial sea shipment of pomegranates of 12.6 tonnes to the US.

• APEDA facilitated the USDA pre-clearance program for pomegranates in December 2024 which played a pivotal role in easing the logistical and regulatory hurdles for Indian agriculture exporters and enabled them to enter the US market. 

• India, being the second-largest producer of horticulture crops, sees major pomegranate production in states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.

What is APEDA?

• The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) was established by the government under the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority Act passed by Parliament in December 1985. The Act came into effect on February 13, 1986.

• APEDA, which replaced the Processed Food Export Promotion Council (PFEPC), has its headquarters in New Delhi.

• It has 16 regional offices across India.

APEDA has been entrusted with the responsibility of export promotion and development of following scheduled products:

i) Fruits, Vegetables and their Products

ii) Meat and Meat Products

iii) Poultry and Poultry Products

iv) Dairy Products

v) Confectionery, Biscuits and Bakery Products

vi) Honey, Jaggery and Sugar Products

vii) Cocoa and its products, chocolates of all kinds

viii) Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic Beverages

ix) Cereal and Cereal Products

x) Groundnuts, Peanuts and Walnuts

xi) Pickles, Papads and Chutneys

xii) Guar Gum

xiii) Floriculture and Floriculture Products

xiv) Herbal and Medicinal Plants

xv) De-oiled rice bran

xvi) Green pepper in brine

xvii) Cashew Nuts and its Products.

• In addition to this, APEDA has been entrusted with the responsibility to monitor the import of sugar as well.

• APEDA also functions as the Secretariat to the National Accreditation Board (NAB) for the implementation of accreditation of the Certification Bodies under National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) for organic exports.

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