KOCHI: The Spices Board has set up a state-of-the-art Quality Evaluation Laboratory (QEL) at the Kandla port in Gujarat to help exporters and customers ensure that their products meet international standards.
The laboratory is the seventh such facility established by the Spices Board across India and has the latest machinery and equipment to test a range of parameters in spice and spice products.
It has been set up over 40 cents of land allotted by the Kandla Port Trust, at a cost of `9.9 crore with central government support of `4.98 crore under the Assistance to States for Infrastructure Development of Exports (ASIDE) scheme.
“Ensuring that the quality of spices and spice products meet global standards is of vital importance, which is why we have prioritised setting up of these laboratories at all the major producing/exporting centres in the country,” saidA Jayathilak, Chairman, Spices Board.
The first Quality Evaluation Laboratory of Spices Board was established in 1989 in Kochi. Regional Quality Evaluation laboratories have since been set up at major production and export centres including Mumbai (2008), Guntur (2010), Chennai (2011), New Delhi (2012) and Tuticorin (2013).