APEDA to review impact of UK’s CoP on basmati rice exports

New Delhi, Apr 3 (KNN) The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has sought stakeholder input to review United Kingdom's new code of practice (CoP) agreements and provisions in order to assess the short and long-term effects on India's basmati exports

It was brought forth by the British Retail Consortium and The Rice Association, UK, the UK rice sector's representative organization.

According to the authorities its major aim is to promote members' interests in all areas relevant to the import, preparation, processing, packing, and marketing of rice.

This was also discussed with the Federation of European Rice Millers (FERM), AIREA, and the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP).

CoP is called as an agreement reached by the groups regarding basmati rice trading in the UK and is not a regulatory instrument.

AIREA, India's largest basmati export association, was involved in the creation of the CoP.

“The CoP's scope was confined to labelling of basmati rice marketed in the UK, and it is a voluntary rule. Those who choose not to comply with its standards must achieve similar minimal legal requirements to ensure that their basmati rice is legitimate,” APEDA stated.

However, the removal of Punjab basmati from the list appeared to be an oversight, as India did not have such a notified variety.

“All the recognized varieties with Punjab Basmati as a prefix have some numerical as a suffix in the varietal name such as Punjab Basmati 1, 2, 3 etc and so has no impact on Indian basmati exports,” it stated.  (KNN Bureau)