Indian Spices In EU: Recipe For Success, Room For More

The rate of rejection for Indian spices in the European Union went down from 222 in the year 2024 to 186 in 2025 - a year-on-year drop of 16.22%. Rejections for the first three quarters of 2026 stood at 95, a drop of 38.71% compared to 123 in the corresponding period of 2026.

A series of steps, including undertaking quality evaluation of export consignments, mandatory pre-shipment sampling, testing, and clearance, and the establishment of Quality Evaluation Laboratories (QELs) across major exporting centres, are among the many steps believed to have contributed to the drop in rejection. 

Industry experts, however, say more needs to be done.

“The standards of EU are extremely stringent, but we have promoted good agricultural practices. We are pressing for acceptance of the reports of Indian laboratories in the importing countries. We have sustained efforts to ensure that Indian exporters do not get any unfair treatment compared to other exporters,” Spices Board Chairperson, Sangeetha Viswanathan, told The Secretariat. The board is the country’s promotion arm for the export of spices.

With over US$ 4.43 billion in spice exports, India has a share of 40-45% in the global spice market in FY2025-26. 

A reply to a Parliamentary question mentioned, “During FY2023-24, India has received a total of 183 rejection/recall alerts from importing countries/regions due to non-compliance of spices and spice products with applicable food safety and quality parameters. The total number of consignments of spices and spice products exported from India to these countries during the period is estimated to be 31,813, of which 183 alerts have been raised, amounting to an alert rate of 0.58% only.”

The steps taken by the Spices Board include:

Undertaking quality evaluation of export consignments of select spices to select destinations based on previous rejections and non-compliances as well as the requirements of the importing countries. The export consignments are subjected to mandatory pre-shipment sampling, testing, and clearance.

The list of spices and parameters under mandatory testing is revised by the Board periodically based on regulatory requirements, emerging risks, and recalls by the importing countries to ensure that spices exported from India comply with the applicable standards of quality and safety. 

The establishment of state-of-the-art National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) accredited QELs across the major exporting centres. 

The constitution of a ‘Techno-Scientific Committee’ comprising technical and scientific officials, for conducting a detailed assessment of such failure or recall. 

Technical discussions with regulatory bodies of the importing countries. 

The establishment of a new Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs (CCSCH) under the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) for development of harmonised quality standards in spices and culinary herbs.

These moves assume significance as the Central government tries to boost Indian exports through a series of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). 

Recognition Of Indian Lab Results

Spice producers and exporters have urged the authorities to promote the acceptance of the results in Indian laboratories among the importing countries or blocs, and enable speedy clearance by the customs authorities at the ports of arrival. 

Spice processing and exporting community leaders told The Secretariat that despite testing at NABL-accredited laboratories and clearance through Spices Board laboratories, consignments are sometimes rejected by importing countries as they have different standards. 

This results in duplicate testing costs, shipment delays and substantial financial losses, particularly for SME exporters. Sometimes about 50% of the consignments are tested. 

“The industry urges the Spices Board to engage with the Ministry of Commerce and importing-country authorities to promote mutual recognition of test results, establish a transparent mechanism for resolving conflicting reports, and ensure that rejection decisions are based on scientifically validated methods and applicable regulatory requirements,” said Prakash Namboodiri, vice chairman of the World Spices Organisation (WSO). 

The problem is more acute in European Union (EU) countries and the UK. While India’s Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with the UK is in force, the fine print of the FTA with the EU is still awaited. 

Leading associations in the spices sector in India, including the Federation of Indian Spices Stakeholders (FISS), All India Spices Exporters Forum (AISEF), India Pepper and Spice Trade Association (IPSTA), and Indian Spice and Foodstuff Exporters Association (ISFEA) wrote a letter to the Spices Board to work with relevant governments and sort out the issues. They demanded improvements in the sampling and testing procedures followed for export certification. 

“It is, however, requested that only well-equipped laboratories with latest technologies are selected after passing the strictest of checks and criteria laid down for this purpose,” said the communication. 

It also urged the board to ensure that the laboratories are adequately staffed to avoid delays in obtaining results, which affect shipment schedules.

Return Of Rejected Cargo

Exporters complain that in many cases, if Indian consignments do not meet the standards of the importing partners, the stock is destroyed abroad, leading to severe losses to Indian exporters, especially the small and medium enterprises (SMEs). 

They have urged the board for a mechanism to arrange the return of goods to India upon rejection, as these comply with Indian food safety standards. 

Exporters have to incur demurrage charges that often exceed the value of the cargo itself, while existing procedures for obtaining approvals remain time-consuming. “Often the rejected consignments are destroyed by the importing countries. This is a total loss for us,” said Ashwin Nayak, founder chairman of FISS. 

“Mechanisms permitting re-import, resampling where appropriate, and quicker regulatory approvals would significantly reduce avoidable losses,” said the joint representation by all the four organisations. 

At a recent FTA Conclave Gujarat, organised by The Secretariat in Gandhinagar, Tejus Gandhi, chairman of FISS, complained that despite the drop in rejections, alerts related to Indian consignments are higher than other spice exporting countries. “Indian spices should get a level-playing field with the goods exported from the competing nations,” he demanded. 

His own cargo of sesame seed exported to the EU was rejected. He also cited another case a cumin consignment being rejected. “If my consignment is rejected, I have the option to get a sample tested in the foreign lab (where the spice is shipped), which is a costly proposition. However, they use the same sample, which was rejected, not another sample from the same consignment. For all this time, my cargo is stuck abroad, for which I have to pay demurrage charges, which is an exorbitant cost,” he said. 

Industry sources argue this is because of the high historical rate of rejection of Indian spices, resulting in more Indian commodities being subjected to border checks. But with the Indian track record improving, these checks are likely to come down. 

EU Hard Nut To Crack

Other stakeholders admit that despite a drop in rejections, the EU remains a hard nut to crack. 

“Why should the EU dilute its standards for Indian exporters? In the beginning, we may find the standards difficult, but in the longer run, these are a blessing in disguise,” said Devendra Shah, president of ISFEA. 

Ramkumar Menon, chairman of WSO, supported the argument and said that the Indian government should expedite the approval of Indian laboratories and their results by the EU government so that the tests are undertaken and shipments can move out of the country with the necessary Health Certificates. 

“This way, the question of rejection, return of cargo, and inspection at destination could be avoided. Indian spices should be given the same treatment that Indian mangoes get when exported to the US. Mangoes are treated, inspected, and allowed for exports to the US, where they enjoy a green channel on arrival, meaning speedier clearance by the Customs authorities of importing nations,” Menon said.

There is also an acknowledgement of the rampant rise in the use of pesticides and lack of standards in India. “So, organisations like the Spices Board end up being the watchman of Europe,” said an exporter.

High Cost of Testing

Shah drew attention to the fact that while processes like irradiation result in lower contamination, it costs 4-5 times the prevalent process of using Ethylene Oxide (ETO). He urged the government to augment and expand the infrastructure of such facilities to make contamination less interventions accessible and affordable.

Every spice exporter has to test close to a dozen molecules to ensure the clearance of cargo for exports. Industry insiders say the cost of testing a five-tonne consignment is close to ₹1 lakh while the consignment itself costs ₹15 lakh. So, the testing alone contributes to 6-7% of the consignment cost. “We work on wafer-thin margins, so the lower cost will improve business viability,” said Nayak of FISS, which represents roughly 600 members across India.   

Gandhi argued that it would be wrong to penalise exporters for higher pesticide content. “We become sitting ducks. The government should promote other means to kill pests, reduce or ban the pesticides. One should go to the root cause, rather than keeping exporters in the crosshairs,” he said. 

The Spices Board has testing labs in Kochi (Head Office) and other QELs in Mumbai, Guntur, Chennai, Tuticorin, Delhi, Kandla, Kolkata, and Jodhpur. 

Additionally, it has 20 empanelled ones in Sonepat (Haryana), Pune, Mumbai (2), Unjha (Gujarat), Bengaluru (2), Chennai (2), Hosur (Tamil Nadu), Kochi, Kolkata, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Alappuzha (2) (Kerala), and Hyderabad (4).