India imposes new condition on non-basmati rice exports

by incorporating an additional policy condition to the extent that export of non-basmati rice shall be permitted only upon registration of contracts with the APEDA,” the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification yesterday. India, one of the world’s largest rice exporters, saw shipments of the grain rise 6.4 percent to $4.7 billion in the April-August period in the current fiscal year. In September last year, the DGFT, under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, lifted a blanket ban on non-basmati rice exports. A joint secretary in the Commerce Ministry, who requested anonymity, said the move aimed to track and regulate the movement of non-basmati rice, potentially requiring exporters to register their business activities related to this commodity before shipping abroad. “The registration would provide the government with better oversight of the non-basmati rice exports,” he said, adding, “It could help monitor the volume and destination of exports to ...