Red rice, black rice: Govt mulls ways to free them from export ban

Officials are considering getting Harmonized System or HS codes assigned for red, black, Kalanamak and other rice varieties which will also allow these varieties to get Geographical Indication tagging, needed for patent protection.

Red and black rice, eaten in southern and north-eastern states, cannot be exported because they are covered under the government’s export ban on non-basmati rice varieties, a government official said on Tuesday.

The ban was enforced last year to check scarcity of supplies amid hoarding.

Officials of the Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) said the apex agricultural export promotion body is working on separate HS codes for GI rice varieties.

In international trade parlance, every product is categorized under an HS nomenclature as it helps in the classification of goods across the globe. The system is administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO).

Rajesh Agarwal, additional secretary in the commerce ministry, said that non-basmati rice has about 40-50 varieties and when the government imposes an export ban, all these varieties, including Gobindo Bhog, widely consumed in West Bengal get impacted.

“New HSN codes for some other varieties of rice is something which is the demand of the industry. How do we differentiate? That is the debate we are having internally," Agarwal said.

“We are trying to see whether there is merit in doing so or not. As a country, we wouldn’t like to impose any ban on rice, but we do so to meet the food security objectives of the country. At the same time, we need to see that there are enough incentives for farmers to keep on producing the normal varieties of rice also, which form the core staple diet of the country," he said. Agarwal said that there is a need to strike a balance and that the ministry take a decision after detailed stakeholder consultation. At present, there are six HS codes for non-basmati rice and one for basmati.

Another worry is that the Red Sea crisis may have an impact on India’s rice exports this year.

“In 2022-23, we exported 22 million tonnes of rice. This year we will be exporting 5-6 million…less than that. Non-basmati we are not exporting because we do not know whether there will be an exportable surplus or not," he said. Due to restrictions on exports of rice, sugar and wheat, agri-exports may fall by 9%—hence the need for HS codes.

APEDA chairman Abhishek Dev said India exported agricultural products worth reached $26.7 billion in 2022-23 and expanded the export basket to over 200 countries.

India now supplies fresh fruits to 111 countries, Dev said, adding, APEDA is planning trial shipments of mangoes, and pomegranates to the USA and the European Union through sea routes.

However, despite a ban on rice exports, India continues to supply grains to its strategic partners such as Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Iran, as well as the wider Asean region.

The exports are taking place at the government-to-government level and those are being facilitated by National Cooperative Exports Ltd, a government export body which was set up under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) Act, 2002 to export agricultural produce and allied items.