Indian spices not banned by Singapore, Hong Kong, says MoS Anupriya Patel

Indian spices have not been banned by countries like Singapore and Hong Kong, the Ministry of Commerce informed Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. Specific batches of a few spice mixtures exported from India were recalled by the food safety authorities in Hong Kong and Singapore due to the presence of ethylene oxide (EtO) above permissible limits, Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel said in a written reply. As part of its import surveillance, the Singapore Food Agency placed the consignments of spices from the associated brands under Hold-and-Test regime for a period of one month. The Spices Board, under the administrative control of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has taken various steps to meet the varying EtO limits of the importing country. They include mandatory pre-shipment testing of spices being exported to these destinations and issuance of comprehensive guidelines to be followed by exporters to prevent possible EtO contamination at all stages such as procurement of raw