The Coffee Act 1942 and it’s proposed Amendment Bill 2022
History of Coffee in India
The history of coffee in India can be traced back to 1600 AD when seven coffee beans were secretly brought to India by holy saint Baba Budan and were planted on what is now known as Baba Budan Giri hills in Karnataka.
Commercial plantation of coffee began only in the 18th century in India.
After the First World War, the Indian coffee economy was in a deplorable state and thus the Government of India established a Coffee Board and enacted the Coffee Act of 1942.
This Coffee Board was constituted by the name Indian Coffee Market Expansion Board as per Section 4 of the Indian Coffee Market Expansion Board Ordinance, 1940.
The Indian Coffee Board comes under the aegis of Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
Coffee Board of India
The Coffee Board of India was enacted by the State through Section 4 of this Act to uplift and improve the coffee industry.
After trade barriers were removed, coffee trade was privatized in 1996.
The board serves as a quality regulation body.
It performs major functions such as R&D, supporting Indian growers and control of coffee exports and re-imports.
Key Highlights
Any person owning land with coffee plants planted, whether wholly or partly
in India or divided amongst different estates has to apply for registration at
the registration officer appointed by the State Government within one month
of owning the property.
Once registered, it can only become invalid if the registering officer cancels it.
Section 35 states the punishment for non-compliance to above mentioned regulations
Procedure for Setting up Coffee Price
As per Section 16 (1) of the Act, the Central Government can through notification in the Official Gazette, set prices for sale of coffee in the Indian market, in wholesale or retail.
Section 16(2) stipulates that the same would be a price ceiling.
Why in News?
Govt plans to scrap 80-year-old Coffee Act, bring Bill to promote
Industry.
The Bill aims to modernise functioning of Coffee Board, promote exports and support development of domestic market
Through a new law, “Coffee (Promotion and Development Bill), 2022” the government aims to modernise the functioning of the Coffee Board of India, that is responsible for
i) Boosting production and the quality of Indian coffee
ii) Enhance exports
iii) Support the development of the domestic market
As with the current act, many rules and regulations, especially those pertaining to the marketing of coffee, are redundant.
Besides, there has been a paradigm shift in the process coffee is grown, consumed and marketed.
Features of Coffee (Promotion and Development Bill), 2022
The new bill addresses several functional areas of the Coffee Board, such as
i) Support for production, research, extension, and quality improvement
ii) Promotion of coffee
iii) Skill development of growers.
Such activities were originally not included in the mandate of the Coffee Board but now necessitated to be incorporated into its functions and powers.
Curing is a process that prepares coffee beans for the market.
The new bill also brings in a one-time registration of curing units.
Way Forward
The growth of the coffee industry will create jobs and business entrepreneurship opportunities in all sectors of the coffee value chain, from production to consumption.
The new bill also aims to protect the interests of the labour in plantations, processing units and coffee communities.
It will promote ease of doing business by simplifying documentation and procedures, including replacing the existing five-year validity of Registration cum Membership Certificate (RCMC) with a one-time exporter registration.
It also strategizes improvement in production and there will be expansion of coffee in suitable areas across the country.
Thus the new coffee bill ensures to shake off the coffee sector from the colonial hangover and restrictive controls through systematic research and development, transfer of technology as well as developmental support to the stakeholders.
