China has allowed five more rice processors in India, including Chaman Lal Setia and Adani Wilmar, to export the cereal to the world’s second largest economy after inspecting their facilities while four companies were told to improve their storage conditions.
Amid the stand-off with the US on trade tariffs, China appears to be serious on importing rice from India, exporters said.
In 2016, China had accredited 14 rice exporters, after an inspection of their processing facilities in India, but prevented the physical shipment on quarantine issue claiming the presence of a pest called ‘khapra’ (cabinet) beetle.
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the neighboring country in June, a MoU was signed between China’s General Administration of Customs and India’s Department of Agriculture on phytosanitary requirements for exporting rice from India to China. The 2006 protocol on phytosanitary requirements for exporting rice from India to China was amended to include the export of non-basmati varieties of rice from India.
“Previously, they had agreed to import from 14 rice exporters, all of whom were based in the northern region and mainly deal with basmati,” a government official said referring to the 2016 inspection when Chinese officials had visited 19 facilities. This time two non-basmati exporters, one each from Nizamabad and Nagpur, have found place in the list of five “registered Indian overseas rice producers”, he said. Two teams of China’s General Administration of Customs had visited 14 rice processing plants in different states during July 9-17.
China, the world’s largest producer and importer of rice, buys over 5 million tonne of the cereal per annum mainly from Vietnam, Thailand and Pakistan. There is a potential of exporting 1 million tonnes of rice, including basmati variety to China in a few years if there is free trade allowed, exporters said.
India’s total rice exports increased to 12.7 million tonnes last fiscal from 10.8 million tonnes a year earlier, which allowed the country to retain the top slot in global trade of the commodity.
“The two countries are coming closer and I expect a good beginning in a trade with China for India’s basmati and non-basmati rice,” said Vijay Setia, president of All India Rice Exporters’ Association. Setia, who is going to China under an official level delegation for talks during August 1-2, said that the neighboring country this time seems serious to allow the trade.
Source: financialexpress.com