NEW DELHI: The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) said on Sunday that banning multinational beverage companies such as Coke and Pepsi was no solution and the Government should immediately come out with comprehensive standards for residual pesticides for the entire range of food products, including cola drinks.

In a representation to Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss, Assocham president Anil K Agarwal said a workable solution could be found out, if all stakeholders — the Centre , State Governments, industry and NGOs representing the civil society — could agree on a set of permissible standards.

"We are all for unified enforceable standards which should be brought about without further delay."

He said the standards finalised by the Bureau of Indian Standards regarding residual pesticides should be discussed by all the stakeholders and then notified. "Once notified, the industry would cooperate with the governments to ensure that all public health norms are met."

Policy initiative

Mr. Agarwal also underlined the need for tackling the bigger problem of contamination of groundwater, which had entered the entire food chain, to the detriment of public health.

"[The] Government should come out with a policy initiative for preventing contamination of groundwater with the help of agricultural scientists and environment labs," the Assocham president said.

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