Chandigarh, June 25
The US continues to be an elusive market for rice exporters from across the country, including the main basmati producing states of Punjab and Haryana, over the traces of fungicide found in their produce.
With the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) remaining firm on not allowing any basmati consignment having tricyclozole level of over 0.1 parts per million (ppm), all rice consignments reaching that country have been withheld from onward distribution in the US.
Rice exporters in the region told The Tribune that exports to the niche US market have been badly hit due to the regulation on tricyclozole content. The basmati exports to the USA have fallen by 72 per cent over the past three years, mainly because the Indian rice consignments to the US are either being rejected, or allowed only after a long, detailed analysis for pesticide content, with consignments remaining stuck at the ports for three months, which makes export to the US ‘unremunerative’.
Recently, a delegation of top rice exporters to the US, went to meet USFDA officials and told them that the maximum residue level (MRL) recommended by the US agency was too low, as Europe had kept the MRL at 1ppm and Japan had kept it at 3 ppm for tricyclozole. USFDA officials reportedly told these exporters that since tricyclozole was an alien chemical in the USA, they were not willing to allow any food with higher residues of the pesticide. The exporters contended that tricyclozole was a chemical manufactured by US-based chemical manufacturer, and alleged that rejecting Indian rice consignments could well be a non-tariff barrier on Indian basmati.
These exporters also filed an appeal with the US Environment Protection Agency, requesting while the USFDA was deliberating on assessing raising of the MRL levels for the fungicide, their consignments should be allowed in the US market as a temporary measure. However, this request was rejected by the Environment Protection Agency.
The situation has reached a level where buyers in the USA are hesitant to sign
new contracts with Indian rice exporters.
The US is one of the growing markets for Indian basmati and accounts for about 7-8 per cent of the country’s exports, with total rice exports being 2.18 million tonne.
Vijay Setia, a leading rice exporter and former president of the All-India Rice Exporters Association said India’s rice exports to the USA had fallen from 1.25 lakh tonne two years ago to just 35,000 tonne now.
Arvinder Pal Singh, a leading Amritsar-based rice exporter, and president of the Punjab Rice Millers Exporters Association, said Punjab exporters had a good market share in basmati exports to the USA.
“Almost each consignment going there is now rejected. We have now asked the Government of India to take up the matter with the US government. Though the main market for Indian basmati exports is West Asia, the inaccessibility of the US market because of the pesticide residue levels could have an adverse impact on the Indian basmati exports,”
he said.
