Spices Board, Kochi is setting up a new quality evaluation laboratory for spices and a regional office in Vashi (Navi Mumbai) with an investment of Rs 5 crore to service spices exporters in the Western region.

VJ Kurien, chairman, Spices Board will inaugurate the Lab and regional marketing office on Wednesday.

The Board, being the nodal agency for export promotion of spices, has the responsibility to ensure the quality of spices and spice products exported from the country.

Mumbai is a major exporting hub for spices and the region accounts for a whopping share of 39% in value (Rs 1,173 crore) and 34% in volume in the total exports during the last financial year when the country?s exports crossed the $1-billion mark.

The laboratory is the second of its kind with state-of-the-art technology. It comes as a boon to the exporters of spices and spice products in the western region who were hitherto depending on the board?s lab in Kochi for testing export samples. Ever since the system of mandatory pre-shipment of export samples came into existence, the exporters in Mumbai region, especially the ones dealing in chilly and its products and turmeric powder were sending samples to Kochi for the analytical test results, an official said.

The lab will service exporters in Ahmedabad, Nagpur and Kolkatta besides Mumbai, enabling speedy testing of export samples for various parameters like Sudan, Aflatoxin and pesticides residues.

The lab in Navi Mumbai is equipped with the most modern gadgets like LCMS-MSS, HPLC and atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS), capable of high accuracy tests up to PPB levels for any international standard.

Warranted by the international concern on food safety, the spices board and the industry have been cautious on the quality of spices at every stage of processing and exports.