The Saudi Food & Drug Authority (SFDA) has from September 1 made it mandatory for each rice consignment to be accompanied by a Certificate of Conformity (COC) according to the latest norms. However, though the Indian rice exporters have been granted time till December 31 to provide an affidavit undertaking for consignments sent after September 1, 2019 that COC will be submitted in due course, India’s Basmati rice exports to Saudi Arabia have already taken a hit, dropping to below 20% in the financial year 2018-19 from over 26% in 2014-15.
Meanwhile, the Agricultural and Processed Foods Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has asked for certificate of accreditation from interested rice exporters since SFDA is sourcing rice from India from establishments which have adopted Food Safety Management System (FSMS) based on international standards viz ISO 22000 and/ or HACCP.
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