<p>Countries like India, Vietnam and Brazil need consensus on pricing, quality control methods, commercial contract terms, according to Adama Coulibaly, director general, Cotton and Cashew Council of Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast, an African nation and one of the major growers of the cashew crop), at the inaugural ceremony of Kaju India 2019 - the Global Cashew Summit, the three-day international buyer-seller meet-cum-exhibition, currently underway in New Delhi. </p><p>These countries, which are among the world’s leading producers, processors and exporters of cashew, have agreed on the need to join hands and exchange information to cooperate and prevent competition to ensure sustainability of the cashew industry and meet future challenges, and need to cooperate and learn from each other to further grow, besides collecting and publishing reliable and undeniable statistics of the industry.</p> <p>Coulibaly stated that cashew exporting and processing countries also needed to control misinformation and spread of rumours on social media about cashew consumption. “These countries need to conduct aggressive campaigns to promote the large consumption of cashew products in their respective countries and the world over to find new markets. Our country invites Indian cashew processors to set up processing units,” he added.</p> <p>“Vietnam is the largest processor and exporter of cashew nuts in the world. It exported 3,52,205 tonne of cashew last year and has surpassed India and Brazil to rank number one in the world. But due to the various difficulties expected in the year 2019, it has decided not to buy and store cashew as prices worldwide keep changing,” said Dang Hoang Giang, vice-president and general secretary, Vietnam Cashew Nut Association (Vinacas).</p> <p>“The Vietnam cashew industry is just 30 years old, and has learnt a lot from India. Both India and Vietnam need to cooperate and exchange more information to meet future challenges and sustain. Both the industry associations, CEPCI and Vinacas, should set up a hotline as well as meet once a week to sort out various issues plaguing the industry and boost exports,” he added.</p> <p>“The United States is one of the largest importers of cashew as well as other food items, but cashew exporters need to gear up for the forthcoming food quality and safety regulations in the US, Canada and Europe,” said Bob Bauer, president, Association of Food Industries, USA.</p> <p>“The importers of food products in the US will need more documentation, quality certification, as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) created the Food Safety Modernisation Act to ensure that US companies make products safe for consumption,” he added.</p> “The latest regulation goes a step further with the Foreign Supplier Verification Programme (FSVP) to verify food imports meet the same safety standards as US food production,” Bauer stated. <br><p></p>