Cashew industry associations from various States have approached Prime Minister Narendra Modi to restore the power of the Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPCI) to issue or renew registration-cum-membership certificates to its members. The Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) had suspended the powers vested with the council and authorised the Agriculture and Processed Food Export Development Agency (APEDA) to issue the certificates to cashew exporters. “CEPCI, established in 1955, is perhaps one of the oldest export promotion councils in the country and has been issuing certificates and promoting the export of cashew and allied products all through. The decision was taken without issuing notice to the council,” said Noordeen Abdul, chairman, CEPCI. Processing States Apart from Kerala, the major cashew processing States are Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat. Headquartered in Kollam, the council currently has regional offices in Bhubaneswar and Visakhapatnam. Offices in Mangaluru and Goa are ready to be open. Associations from all cashew exporting States along with the Federation of Indian Cashew Industry (FICI) have appealed to the Prime Minister and Union Minister for Commerce to restore the powers of the council and protect the industry. They point out that the CEPCI has been promoting the industry by implementing standards, disseminating market data, and facilitating R&D activities, training programmes, and market analysis. Contributions The council has made crucial interventions in curbing unethical import of cashew kernels. “The council has been collecting details of such imports from the country of origin and passing it over to the Customs and DRI authorities. A number of such consignments were seized and the council is targeted for its active involvement in protecting the interests of the industry,” he added.