Federal government’s czar for Commerce took to social media last week to announce filing of Pakistan’s Notice of Opposition to India’s claim of exclusive rights to the origin of basmati rice. Earlier in September, the next-door frenemy had filed a Protected Geographical Indications (PGI) claim at the European Union’s eAmbrosia register. Has Pakistan successfully managed to ward off the attack by an increasingly hostile neighbour?
First, it needs to be made explicitly clear that this is only a start of what – in all likelihood – will be a very protracted battle. The Notice of Opposition only signals Pakistan’s “intent” to take legal recourse against Indian claim. According to domestic media, the Notice of Opposition has been acknowledged by EU in the nick of time, as EU rules allow up to 90 days for acknowledgement since the filing of the original PGI claim. However, the eAmbrosia register does not list Pakistan’s notice in its online database, whereas Indian claim is available for public access since at least September 12th.
Why will the battle be prolonged? It is worth reproducing a section of Commerce Advisor’s quote: “We assure the rice community that we will defend our case with due diligence and commitment”. Moreover, as per news reports in international media, the country has employed the services of a Brussels based legal firm Altius to dispute Indian claim. Suffice to say that the opposing side has carefully crafted this attack and, will not cow down to filing of a mere Notice of Opposition.
Two, it is paramount that this modern form of trade warfare is nipped in the bud immediately. The Commerce czar raised concern that India may also be considering registering PGI claim for Pink Himalayan Salt as well. And he is right. The attacks won’t stop here: the extent of cultural overlap, shared history and heritage, and commonalities in goods traded by both countries mean that from Multani Mitti, to Peshawari Chappal, all goods historically originating from subcontinent may be at risk. It doesn’t help that given the sheer size of Indian economy and its greater productivity, the trade numbers will almost always be on its side.
Will Pakistan succeed? While taking legal recourse has ensured that basmati exports will probably remain unaffected in the near term, it is not easy to be optimistic. It is worth remembering that Pakistan finally promulgated its GI law only in March 2020, whereas the opposing country operationalized its law two decades ago, and has already successfully registered PGI for Darjeeling Tea back in 2011. Moreover, as far as basmati is concerned, India has buttressed its claim by demarcating unique regions of basmati origin domestically by excluding historically non-basmati growing regions such as Madhya Pradesh from its claim at EU.
Because Pakistan’s legislature is two decades too late to the party, it has so far been unable to draw any such demarcation locally. Doing so right now – smack in the middle of a transnational lawsuit – may be akin to opening a can of worms. While limiting Pakistan’s claim of unique regions of origin to historic basmati bowl of Kalar – as explained in this space previously – will most certainly add weight to its claim, it will also result in taking domestic differences over the designated region, public.
According to Agricultural Statistics of Pakistan, cultivation of basmati rice has now not only spread outside of Kalar region to all the way down to southern Punjab, but also includes some recent additions from Sindh and Balochistan. Even if the minor cultivation in the latter two provinces is excluded, regional farmers from central and southern Punjab will not take it lightly if the demarcation is to their detriment.
How should the MoC and IPO modulate its strategy? Target the opposition where it hurts the most. While EU may very well be Pakistan’s trading partner, the trading bloc’s total basmati imports at $400 million dwarfs in comparison to other regions such as Gulf (excluding Iran) that import up to $3 billion worth basmati rice annually, more than 80 percent of which is from India!
Worse still, Pakistan’s other (less than friendly) neighbour Iran imports basmati rice worth more than $1 billion from India annually, whereas Pakistan’s basmati export to this western neighbour (with which it shares a thousand-kilometre-long border) is less than an embarrassing trickle.
While the Gulf countries may be increasingly becoming closer to the Indian hegemon, it does not take an international relations specialist to figure out that even if India wins the battle, Iran is least likely to follow EU definitions. With MoC’s support, Pakistani exporters must target the world’s largest importer of basmati.
Even if it captures one-third of that neighbouring market, it will more than compensate for the loss of EU (excluding UK). In the long run, in order to insulate Pakistan’s already paltry exports of other commodities from future PGI trade warfare, the country must get its legislative house in order. In absence of local regulation on demarcation of unique origin regions, it will be hard to ward off attacks on other commodities as well. Afterall, a Peshawari chappal originating from Karachi will be as dubious in its origin as one originating from Mumbai. Act fast.
“In many cases, pesticide manufacturers are unwilling to register their products in high potential markets as they find the process costly as well as cumbersome and that it leads to rejection of export samples,” said a leading rice exporter from Punjab, who did not wish to be identified.
Rice exporters in India have sought a ban on pesticides that are not registered in foreign markets, a bid to shore up exports to Europe and the United States.
They are hopeful that the Pesticide Management Bill, 2020 will exhort pesticide manufacturers to register their products in foreign markets such as the US and European Union and help boost shipments from India, the largest producer of premium rice.
“In many cases, pesticide manufacturers are unwilling to register their products in high potential markets as they find the process costly as well as cumbersome and that it leads to rejection of export samples,” said a leading rice exporter from Punjab, who did not wish to be identified. “The rejection of samples hits exporters hard and finally farmers as their produce gets devalued by 20-25%.”
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union will impose tariffs on rice from Cambodia and Myanmar from Friday to curb a surge in imports, the European Commission said on Wednesday.
The decision, which will be in effect for three years, follows a “safeguard” investigation launched last March after a request from the Italian government. Rice is grown in eight southern European countries from Portugal to Bulgaria.
The Commission, which oversees trade policy in the bloc, had proposed the tariff measures last year but failed to a get clear majority of the 28 EU states to back the plan in December.
In the absence of an opinion by the relevant committee, the Commission took the final decision itself on Wednesday.
Cambodia and Myanmar benefit from the EU’s “Everything But Arms” scheme which allows the world’s least developed countries to export most goods to the European Union free of duties. But the Commission said its investigation had confirmed that a significant increase in imports of longer-grained Indica rice from Cambodia and Myanmar had damaged EU producers.
From Jan. 18 it will set a duty of 175 euros (£155) per tonne of rice in the first year, dropping to 150 euros in the second and 125 euros in year three, it said.
Cambodia and Myanmar already face losing their special access to the world’s largest trading bloc over their human rights records, although that potential sanction is separate from the rice safeguard measures.
The Commission said it had found that imports of Indica rice from the two countries had risen by 89 percent in the past five rice-growing seasons, and that a surge in cheap imports had reduced EU producers’ market share in Europe to 29 from 61 percent.
EU farming group Copa-Cogeca said it welcomed the Commission’s decision on Wednesday, saying it had recognised a critical situation in a sector that is vital for preventing an exodus from rural areas.
THE EUROPEAN Commission has found sufficient evidence to launch an investigation into whether Cambodian rice exported to the EU puts an unfair burden on European rice farmers, potentially imperiling the Kingdom’s tariff-free exports to the bloc.
The investigation was launched on March 16 in response to a request from Italy, which called for “safeguard measures” – most commonly import restrictions or tariffs – to be imposed on rice from both Cambodia and Myanmar, according to a |notification of the investigation published in the EU’s official journal.
“Having determined that there is sufficient prima facie evidence to justify the initiation of a proceeding, the Commission hereby initiates an investigation pursuant to Article 24 of the GSP Regulation,” the notification says, referring to the Generalised Scheme of Preferences, which currently grants Cambodian exports tax-free entry in the European market under the Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme.
Under the GSP’s Article 24, import tariffs can be re-applied to a product if it is determined that the product “is imported in volumes and/or at prices which cause, or threaten to cause, serious difficulties to European Union producers of like or directly competing products”.
Any re-introduction of tariffs on Cambodian rice could have disastrous effects on the industry. The EU accounted for more than 40 per cent of Cambodia’s |total recorded rice exports last year.
The EU Commission’s investigation team has already held their first meeting with officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Commerce according to Hean Vanhan, director-general of the Agriculture Ministry’s General Directorate of Agriculture.
“We are now meeting with the EU, and we have no idea about the result yet,” he said.
“If there is no political interference, I believe that the negotiation will not be difficult, as our exports are based on the EBA agreement.”
Mum on details
Vanhan declined to provide further details about the meeting. Representatives from the Commerce Ministry could not be reached.
Cambodian rice sector |representatives said that the investigation was worrisome, |and questioned the legitimacy |of Italy’s complaint.
“Our rice species are different from Italy’s rice, so what they raise up, it is not possible to hurt their local producers,” said Hun Lak, vice president of the Cambodia Rice Federation.
Lak stressed the investigation and subsequent ruling should not be related to the Kingdom’s deteriorating political situation, as did Song Saran, CEO of AMRU Rice, one of the country’s largest rice exporters.
While the EBA agreement overall is dependent on certain conditions related to political and labour rights, the specific |clauses underpinning the rice investigation do not mention rights.
“The investigation from the EU is a huge concern, and threatens rice exporters and farmers’ living condition,” Saran said, arguing that Italy’s concerns were due to global market factors and not related to Cambodian rice.
“The drop down of rice prices impacts not only Italy’s rice market, it is a global issue,” Saran said. “We export only fragrant rice, and the volume is not as big as what Italy is saying.”
The share of the EU rice market captured by Cambodian rice has grown from 13 percent five years ago to 21 per cent last year, according to the EU.
Meanwhile, the share of the rice market controlled by European producers has fallen from 52 per cent to 30 percent over the same period.
Italian rice farmers have complained about Cambodian rice imports since at least 2014, but this is the first time a formal investigation has been launched by the commission.
EU regulations stipulate the investigation must be completed within a year of its March 16 starting date.
EU has issued a notification that residues above 0.01 ppm will not be allowed in the basmati imports after Dec 31, 2017.
The Dollar Business Bureau
India’s widely appreciated basmati rice may face the closed doors of the EU due to the new regulations that EU has imposed on chemical residues, The All India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA) said on Wednesday.
A fungicide named tricyclazole which many farmers use to prevent leaf and neck blast in basmati paddy varieties was banned by EU. For sometime EU had allowed a maximum residue limit (MRL) of 1ppm (parts per million) on the basmati rice that was exported to EU. However, it has issued a notification that residues above 0.01 ppm will not be allowed in the basmati imports after Dec 31, 2017.
Speaking to the media, AIREA President, Vijay Setia said it would not only impact their businesses but also affect the price realisation of about 1.5 million basmati rice growing farmers in India. Presently US and Japan allow basmati rice imports having residues of up to 3ppm and 10ppm respectively.
The Rice Exporters’ Association President added that while many farmers do not use the chemical much, asking them to change their practices may take around 2 years and if the new rules by the EU are not withdrawn, the Indian farmers could stand to lose their business to Pakistan.
Incidentally, basmati rice grown in Pakistan do not need the use of the chemical fungicide that Indian farmers use and hence stand to gain from the ban on the Indian exports.
India exports 4 million tonnes of basmati rice every year which s valued around Rs 22,000 crore. The country exports 350,000 tonnes of basmati to EU which is valued around Rs 1700 crore. The AIREA has appealed to the Prime Minister to intervene and has also engaged in discussions with the Commerce Ministry to find a way out of the issue.
In a statement to the media, AIREA said, ‘Pakistan being the other Basmati rice exporter to the EU would gain all the business that India would lose... the effect of this virtual ban would thus be ruinous.’ According to a PTI release, an Indian government delegation is scheduled to visit Brussels on July 12 in order to discuss the new regulations.
India Infoline News Service | Mumbai | July 06, 2017 14:17 IST
Basmati rice exports from India to the European Union (EU) might come to an end owing to latest norms on chemical residues, stated All India Rice Exporters Association, as reported by a leading national news agency.
European Union (EU) has permitted a maximum residue limit (MRL) of 1 ppm (parts per million) so far, However, from December 31, 2017 onwards it has instructed that imports having an MRL more than 0.01 ppm will not be allowed.
Rice stocks like LT Foods and KRBL Limited were in focus during Thursday’s trading session. KRBL Limited was trading higher by 1.36% at Rs 394.25 per share and LT Foods Limited was trading higher by 0.52% at Rs 67.1 per share as of 1404 hours on Thursday.
India’s exports of the Basmati rice to the European Union might come to a halt due to new regulations on chemical residues
Currently, the US and Japan allow Basmati imports with residues of up to 3 ppm and 10 ppm, respectively. Photo: Hemant Mishra/Mint
New Delhi: India’s exports of the aromatic Basmati rice to the European Union might come to a halt due to new regulations on chemical residues, the All India Rice Exporters Association said on Wednesday.
The bone of contention is a fungicide named Tricyclazole developed by Dow Agri Sciences which farmers use to prevent leaf and neck blast in Basmati paddy varieties. While the European Union (EU) has so far allowed a maximum residue limit (MRL) of 1 ppm (parts per million), after 31 December 2017 it has mandated that imports having an MRL above 0.01 ppm will not be allowed.
“This will not only impact our businesses but also affect price realisation of about 1.5 million farmers growing Basmati in India,” the association’s president Vijay Setia said.
Currently, the US and Japan allow Basmati imports with residues of up to 3 ppm and 10 ppm, respectively. The fungicide Tricyclazole is commonly used by farmers in India to prevent blast in Basmati varieties like PB1 and Pusa 1410.
“While there is a problem that farmers do not judiciously use the chemical, changing practices requires as much as two years,” Setia said, adding, “if the new rules are not withdrawn we will lose our business to Pakistan.”
Basmati varieties grown in Pakistan do not require use of the fungicide and stand to gain from the de-facto ban on Indian exports.
India exports over 4 million tonnes of Basmati rice every year valued at over Rs22,000 crore. Exports to the EU currently are at 350,000 tonnes per year, valued at over Rs1,700 crore.
The rice exporters association has written to the Prime Minister to intervene and engaged with the commerce and agriculture ministries on the issue.
“Pakistan being the other Basmati rice exporter to the EU would gain all the business that India would lose... the effect of this virtual ban would thus be ruinous,” the statement added.
According to a Press Trust of India report, an Indian government delegation is scheduled to visit Brussels in Belgium on 12 July to discuss the new regulations.
Following the European Union’s recent decision to impose a stringent maximum residue limit (MRL) for Tricyclazole, a fungicide used by farmers against a disease from December 31, 2017, rice exporters in the country have launched an extensive campaign to educate the farmers.
The focus of the campaign, which is being carried out in collaboration with agricultural scientists, has been to educate the farmers about using the fungicide. (Image: Reuters)
Following the European Union’s recent decision to impose a stringent maximum residue limit (MRL) for Tricyclazole, a fungicide used by farmers against a disease from December 31, 2017, rice exporters in the country have launched an extensive campaign to educate the farmers in key growing states of Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh on the judicious use of pesticides. According to Vijay Setia, president, All India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA), the focus of the campaign, which is being carried out in collaboration with agricultural scientists, has been to educate the farmers about using the fungicide within 70 days of commencement of kharif sowing and not to use it at the flowering stage.
“Many a times rice exports consignments were rejected because of detection of pesticides residues and our focus would be educate the farmers against use of excessive pesticides which would lead to higher price realisation,” Setia told FE. EU has brought down the MRL level for Tricyclazole to virtually zero or 0.01 milligram (mg) per kg from next year. Similarly, USA does not permit the presence of residues of pesticides like Isoprothiolane and Buprofezin beyond 0.01 mg per kg. EU and the US markets are high value markets for rice exporters although major chunk of rice is shipped to mostly Gulf and African countries.
According to a commerce ministry official, “Only those pesticides should be used by farmers which are recommended by the state agriculture universities for application on paddy crop. In addition, the correct dose of the recommended pesticide.” The official said the country is largest exporter of rice in the world since last five years. “However, export of rice has faced problems in last few years in different markets like USA, EU and Iran due to detection of residues of pesticides exceeding prescribed MRL,” he noted.
AIREA will be holding a series of meetings with farmers across key basmati growing areas of Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh as farmers are preparing nurseries for kharif paddy plantation. India has an around 85% share in global basmati exports while the rest is contributed by Pakistan.
--- Up to 100,000 tonnes of Vietnamese rice will be shipped to the European Union each year tax-free in 2018 following the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement, helping local rice exporters penetrate the market, Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported.
However, it remains to be seen if Vietnamese businesses can take advantage of this opportunity as the EU has strict technical barriers, according to Lam Tuan Anh, Director of Thinh Phat Ltd Co.
Only firms which have their own material areas and could control the quality of rice from cultivation to processing can access the market, Tuan Anh said, explaining that rice is a sensitive staple that is not included in many other free trade agreements.
Despite being the world's third largest rice exporter, Vietnam is still in the early stages of building an image in the EU.
Experts said the EU is a promising market because of local consumers' high living standards.
Although only a few rice exporting countries compete in the market such as Myanmar, Cambodia and Thailand, they all have good quality rice, experts said, urging Vietnam to create a brand name for its rice.
Vietnam's Commercial Affairs Office in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Latvia, suggested Vietnamese businesses focus more on food safety to deliver their rice to Sweden and other Northern European countries.
Vietnam's rice exports to the region have remained limited in turnover and varieties, according to the office.
Although demand for rice in Northern Europe is not huge, the region could be a promising market for Vietnamese rice if the country receives trade incentives and satisfies locals' taste, a representative from the office said.
Vietnam has a huge opportunity to export farm produce like rice, vegetable, fruit and honey to the EU.
-- BERNAMA
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S. — China is expected to become a bigger export market for Cambodian rice, with reports suggesting China will import 200,000 tonnes of rice per year from Cambodia, according to a May 15 report from the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The USDA said Cambodia’s rice millers have shifted their attention to the expanding Chinese market in light of new rules in the European Union that have tightened the residue limit of tricyclazole on rice. Cambodian rice farmers commonly use tricyclazole to control rice blast fungus, but effective June 2017 the E.U. said it will implement a new threshold of tricyclazole residue for white rice — 0.01 mg per kg of paddy — and in December 2017 will implement a new tricyclazole residue level for fragrant rice — at 0.01 mg per kg.
“Amid rice millers’ concern of the E.U.’s potential ban on Cambodian rice that fails to meet the chemical residue threshold, the government of Cambodia is looking into substitute options and raising awareness of farmers on proper usage of fungicides,” the USDA said.
Cambodia exported a total of 542,144 tonnes of milled rice in 2016, up 0.7% from 2015. China was the largest destination, importing 127,460 tonnes, a figure that is forecast to grow to 200,000 in 2017, the USDA said. The increase in demand from China is expected to outpace the potential decline in demand from traditional E.U. buyers.
“Last December, China National Cereals, Oils, and Foodstuffs Corporation (COFCO) approved 18 Cambodian rice millers for exporting rice to China as part of an agreement signed between COFCO and the Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF),” the USDA said. “Additionally, the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry (MAFF) selected 28 rice millers who have demonstrated competence to meet the requirements for exporting rice into China. The CRF is urging the government to facilitate more access to the China market to offset potential decrease demand from E.U.
“The cross border rice trade is a vital pathway for Cambodia rice export into Thailand and Vietnam. However, Thailand’s reduction in stock and a production recovery this year show no signs of an increase in import demand. Meanwhile, the cross border trade with Vietnam is robust mostly because of strong demand for Cambodian rice to serve local Vietnamese consumers who prefer quality fragrant rice.”
Overall milled rice exports are forecast to increase 5% to 570,000 tonnes in 2017, and 8% to 615,000 tonnes in 2018, the USDA said.
The EU moved another step closer to banning rice treated with the fungicide tricyclazole last week as the Council opted not to oppose a draft Commission proposal slashing residue limits to prohibitively low levels.
The plans involve cutting maximum residue limits (MRLs) for tricyclazole from thecurrent 1mg/kg to 0.01mg/kg. By setting the level at the so-called ‘limit ofdetermination’, the new rules would effectively outlaw imports of rice treated withthe substance.
Isoprothiolane is good alternative to tricyclazole, but restricted in the US
NEW DELHI, MAY 11:
The Centre is working with basmati exporters to identify alternatives to tricyclazole — a fungicide used to treat rice — as the European Union seems inflexible in its decision to bring down the tolerance level for the chemical next year, effectively banning its use.
“If alternatives are not found, India’s basmati exports to the region could get hit drastically as the levels of tricyclazole in Indian rice is mostly much higher than the default level of 0.001 ppm (parts per million) that the EU wants,” a government official told BusinessLine.
The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), under the Department of Commerce, together with basmati rice-exporting companies, is looking at possible solutions to the problem, the official added.
No issues with current cap
The maximum residue limit (MRL) for tricyclazole, a fungicide used by rice-growing countries to protect the crop from a disease called ‘blast’, is at present fixed at 1 ppm by the European Union.
Indian exporters do not have any problems staying within this limit, but once the default level of 0.001 ppm kicks in, much of the $3 billion of basmati exported to the EU from India could get affected.
The industry and government are finding it difficult to zero in on other fungicides that could be used because of a peculiar problem, the official said. While the fungicide isoprothiolane (IPT) could be a good alternative to tricyclazole as it has similar properties and is allowed in the EU, it is difficult to advise farmers to switch to it as the chemical is restricted in the United States.
So, in order to save the market in the EU, India would have to put at risk its market for basmati rice in the US, if it switches to IPT. The Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) is also working on varieties of rice that are resistant to the heat blast disease but it will take time to yield results.
“Before we are able to have our own varieties of disease-free rice, we have to use our diplomatic skills to sort out the problem with the EU and also with the US if required,” the official said.
India is continuing to talk to the EU hoping to convince it to change its mind about lowering the maximum residue limit for tricyclazole.
“The EU does not seem too impressed by the problem Indian basmati exporters may face next year. India is talking to countries like Italy and Portugal, which do not support the EU initiative of raising the tolerance level, to strengthen its argument,” the official said.
APEDA is making all efforts to ensure production of export-compliant basmati rice in the country, according to a senior official from the body.
Dibyajyoti Bhattacharjee
The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) is making all efforts to ensure production of export-compliant basmati rice in the country, according to a senior official from the body. It will be working closely with the governments of seven states that produce basmati rice and run awareness campaigns among the rice farmers for selective use of pesticides in cultivation, keeping in view the target market.
APEDA will participate in 15 workshops in the basmati rice producing states along with agricultural universities, the All India Rice Exporters’ Association (AIREA) and the state agricultural departments over the next few months. This development comes at a time when commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while inaugurating the ‘National Standards Conclave’ in Delhi on May 1, has called on the industry to produce quality goods at affordable price to secure higher market access in the foreign countries.
Welcoming the move by APEDA, Rajan Sundaresan, executive director of AIREA, said with the expected improvement in realisation rates of basmati rice in major overseas markets, India will be able to penetrate deeper into world rice markets in near future. Basmati rice, arguably the most premium variety of rice available in the world, has lucrative market in the EU, the US and the Middle East. But exports of basmati rice to some countries are hampered due to non-compliance of technical regulations concerning product standards. Actually, exports of basmati rice from India faced problems due to detection of pesticides residues exceeding prescribed Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs). India’s basmati rice exports to the world, which stood at $3.22 billion in 2016-17, declined more than 7.3% compared to the previous year.
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Speaking to the FE, the APEDA official said recently that the EU has brought down the MRL of tricyclazole (an ingredient used in pesticides) to limit of determination (LOD) i.e. 0.01 mg/kg. So, basmati rice grown in India will not qualify for exports to the EU after January 2018, unless it conforms to the new standards prescribed by the EU. Similarly, the US does not permit the presence of residues of pesticides like Isoprothiolane and Buprofezin beyond 0.01 mg/kg. He stressed that only those pesticides should be used by farmers which are recommended by the state agricultural universities for application to paddy crops.
Additionally, correct dose of the recommended pesticides should be used and pre-harvest interval should be observed as mentioned on the label of the packing of the respective pesticides.
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Currently, the US and Japan allow Basmati imports with residues of up to 3 ppm and 10 ppm, respectively. Photo: Hemant Mishra/Mint
New Delhi: India’s exports of the aromatic Basmati rice to the European Union might come to a halt due to new regulations on chemical residues, the All India Rice Exporters Association said on Wednesday.
The bone of contention is a fungicide named Tricyclazole developed by Dow Agri Sciences which farmers use to prevent leaf and neck blast in Basmati paddy varieties. While the European Union (EU) has so far allowed a maximum residue limit (MRL) of 1 ppm (parts per million), after 31 December 2017 it has mandated that imports having an MRL above 0.01 ppm will not be allowed.
“This will not only impact our businesses but also affect price realisation of about 1.5 million farmers growing Basmati in India,” the association’s president Vijay Setia said.
Currently, the US and Japan allow Basmati imports with residues of up to 3 ppm and 10 ppm, respectively. The fungicide Tricyclazole is commonly used by farmers in India to prevent blast in Basmati varieties like PB1 and Pusa 1410.
“While there is a problem that farmers do not judiciously use the chemical, changing practices requires as much as two years,” Setia said, adding, “if the new rules are not withdrawn we will lose our business to Pakistan.”
Basmati varieties grown in Pakistan do not require use of the fungicide and stand to gain from the de-facto ban on Indian exports.
India exports over 4 million tonnes of Basmati rice every year valued at over Rs22,000 crore. Exports to the EU currently are at 350,000 tonnes per year, valued at over Rs1,700 crore.
The rice exporters association has written to the Prime Minister to intervene and engaged with the commerce and agriculture ministries on the issue.
“Pakistan being the other Basmati rice exporter to the EU would gain all the business that India would lose... the effect of this virtual ban would thus be ruinous,” the statement added.
According to a Press Trust of India report, an Indian government delegation is scheduled to visit Brussels in Belgium on 12 July to discuss the new regulations.
APEDA is making all efforts to ensure production of export-compliant basmati rice in the country, according to a senior official from the body.
