NEW DELHI, 5 July 2021: The PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry (PHDCCI), a industry body on behalf of its members has written to Department of Animal Husbandry for it intervention on the current issues being faced by entire Pet Food Industry on account of pending notification of the revised Animal Health Certificate conditions.
The imposition of high goods & services tax (GST) @18 percent on cat and dog food and stringent conditions for import of ingredients of animal origin pending the notification of the Draft Animal Health Certificate; and absence of scientific approach and uniform regulatory guidelines on manufacturing, ingredients, food safety, quality, testing and nutritional requirements.
The chamber has submitted a detailed representations and requested for early intervention with other concerned departments for the following three points listed below.
1. Early Adoption of BIS Specification IS 11968:2019 Pet Food for Dogs & Cats as Mandatory Standard for Pet Food Industry.
2. Classification of Animal food (Cat & Dog feed) at 5 percent GST rate under Goods & Services Tax ('GST') regime under Chapter 23 at par with other animal feed.
3. Early Notification of the revised Animal Health Certificate acknowledging Heat treatment (70°C for 30 min) as inactivation step which eliminates risk of Avian influenza basis OIE guidance (World Organization for Animal Health).which will ease Import of Pet food (Dog & Cat) & Animal Origin Ingredients into India
Background
Pet food has gained significance over the years and more so because of the rise in pet adoption and pet parents paying more attention to pet nutrition for their health and wellbeing. India is emerging as potential market for pet food, driven by consumer awareness towards benefits of pre-packaged food on pet's health along with the embracing culture of pet companionship.
Indian pet food Industry and its growth is primarily driven by significant pet population of 2.5 crore pet dogs and 4.5 million cats. At present, there is not enough capacity of Indian industry to manufacture and cater to the growing demand (@20 percent) of pet food, and there is huge dependency on imported food and ingredients.
Pre-packaged Pet food market is estimated at INR 2500 crore to INR 2,700 crore and has emerged as a clear solution to many concerns like lifecycle dietary needs, storage, quality, nutrition, shelf life, bulk versus smaller packages, storage temperature, shelf life, etc.
According to industry experts, less than 15-18 percent of this market is catered domestically indicative of huge potential for investment and employment creation as also by-product utilisation and thus saving food loss and prevent pollution from meat and poultry industry.
In this backdrop, the pet food industry in India needs a policy push and support from the Department to maintain the growth momentum. There is need to promote the domestic pet food processing by taking policy steps to give a fillip to domestic industry by allowing imports of ingredients (of animal origin) and providing a level playing field to both domestic manufacturers as well as importers.
A harmonized regulatory environment focused on policies, standards, ease of doing business, reducing non-tariff barriers (Sanitary & Phyto Sanitary Guidelines), uniform taxation for pet food vis. animal feed and identical regulations for both domestic manufacturers & importers of pet food will empower the industry to reach its true potential in the coming years.
Image credit: petfoodprocessing.net
