Guwahati: The union cabinet approved the creation of a national level Multi-State Cooperative Export Society on Wednesday under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) Act of 2002.
This was informed by Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupendra Yadav.
“Cabinet approved setting up of a national level Multi-state cooperative export society under Multi-State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) Act, 2002. It’ll help in achieving the goal of ‘Sahakar Se Samriddhi ‘ through the inclusive growth model of cooperatives,” said Union Minister B Yadav during a cabinet briefing.
Therefore, cooperatives must operate locally while thinking worldwide in order to take advantage of their comparative advantage.
It is felt that a national-level cooperative society should be registered under the Second Schedule of the MSCS Act, 2002 in order to give organic products from the cooperative sector a boost and serve as an umbrella organisation for administering various operations relating to the organic sector.
Primary cooperative societies, district, regional, and national level federations, multi-state cooperative societies, and Farmers Producer Organizations (FPOs) are just a few examples of the cooperative societies that can join as members. According to the society’s byelaws, each of these cooperatives will have elected representatives on the board.
The cooperative organisation will oversee a variety of activities relating to the organic industry by offering certified and genuine organic products. It will assist in releasing the potential for demand and consumption of organic products in both domestic and international markets.
This organisation will also assist cooperatives and ultimately their farmer members in benefiting from the high price of organic products through aggregation, branding, and mass marketing by permitting testing and certification at a reasonable price.
Moreover, the cooperative society will provide institutional support for the collection, certification, testing, procurement, storage, processing, branding, labelling, packaging, logistic facilities, marketing of organic products, and arranging financial assistance to the organic farmers through its member cooperatives, including Primary Agricultural Credit Societies/Farmers Producer Organizations (FPOs). The cooperative society will also take on all promotion and development related activities of organisations. It will appoint recognised organic testing labs and certification bodies that adhere to the society’s requirements in order to lower the cost of testing and certification.
The organisation will oversee the full supply chain of organic products produced by cooperatives and affiliated entities through member cooperatives. It will make use of the export marketing services provided by the national cooperative export society being established under the MSCS Act, 2002 in order to expand the reach and demand of organic products on the worldwide market.
Moreover, it will help with constructing and maintaining a specific market intelligence system for organic food, as well as with offering technical support, training, and capacity building for organic growers. A balanced approach shall be preserved between conventional mass farming and organic farming while promoting organic farming.