Evaluating the Performance, Export Competitiveness and Direction of Trade of Indian Banana in the International Market

Abstract

The study examined the changing pattern of international trade in bananas globally and in India at a macro level from 2000 to 2020. It analyzed the growth pattern, direction of trade, trade competitiveness, and market access issues like tariff and non-tariff barriers (NTBs) faced by exporters in major markets. The analysis revealed that the export of bananas from India increased from $8.10 thousand to $212 thousand from 2000 to 2020, with an annual growth of 21 per cent. Iran, UAE, Oman, and Saudi Arabia are the major destination markets for Indian bananas, wherein India exports more than 70 per cent of its banana export. Banana exports from India possess export competitiveness as the Nominal Protection Coefficient (NPC) was less than one (ranging between 0.28 to 0.70), and the domestic prices were lower than the international prices. Oman emerged as a stable market for banana imports from India in quantity and value terms. Iran and Nepal were the most important markets for Indian bananas but Kuwait and Saudi Arabia markets were unstable markets for Indian bananas. Among the major importing countries of Banana, Japan had imposed the highest number of notifications (164 Non-tariff Measures (NTMs)) on total imports of India since 1995. The USA imposed 119 NTMs, and the EU imposed 65 notifications. Still, it had imposed more TBT measures (35). Regarding Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures, agricultural goods do not involve technological prowess but only consider consumer health and safety issues, which can be harmonized as it is good for trading partners. For Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) measures driven mainly by technology, India must follow the same approach carefully. Future research should concentrate on the impact of NTMs in depth by considering all the stakeholders.