The Union commerce ministry has come out with a proposal making the 'certification scheme' mandatory for the ayurveda, sidda and unani (ASU) exporters. Under the proposal, all the ASU products will be subject to quality control and inspection by Export Inspection Council (EIC), an arm of commerce ministry, before exporting these products.

The main objective of the certification scheme is "to prohibit the export of ASU products in the course of international trade unless it conforms to the standard specifications applicable to it and is accompanied by a certificate of inspection or certificate that such unit is approved and monitored by the Export Inspection Agency established under section 7 of the Export (Quality Control and Inspection) Act, 1963 including its sub offices located at various places of the region".

This is the second time that the commerce ministry is coming out with such a proposal. In October last year also the ministry had come out with a proposal. But due to industry's stiff resistance, the ministry had decided to make the certification scheme voluntary for one year to assess the scheme before making the scheme mandatory for exporting. But, now the ministry has once again come out with the proposal.

As per the proposal, the ASU exporters have to route their products through Export Inspection Council (EIC). The ASU exporters should get their each and every consignment tested from the EIC-approved laboratories before exporting the same to different countries. After testing the products at these EIC labs, the ASU exporters have to enclose the certificate for getting clearance from the customs officers and the zonal drug controllers for exporting their products.

The ministry's proposal comes in the wake of reports that many countries are taking objections on the quality of Indian ASU products. There were reports that the ASU exporters in India were in deep trouble as several countries have taken objection on the Indiam products on the ground that they contain toxic materials like heavy metals, pesticide residues, microbial contents and aflotoxins above the acceptable limits. These substances are considered unsafe for health, if it is more than the permissible limits. These findings had an adverse effect on the ASU exporters in the country.