Relief from Saudi norms for rice exporters

Indian rice exporters have a reason to cheer as they have got a breather till December 31 from stricter rules on shipments of basmati rice to Saudi Arabia. These norms pertaining to the authenticity of rice were earlier supposed to be initiated from 1^st September.

 The Saudi Food and Drug Authority had requested test reports on minimum residue levels (MRL), along with Certificate of Conformity from Indian exporters. The authority had asked Indian rice exporters to source rice from good agriculture practices (GAP)-certified farms. Vijay Setia, president of the All India Rice Exporters Association, stated that “we have assured the SFDA that if a consignment has 93% or 85% Basmati rice, we will label it accordingly.”