New Basmati code is stuck in sticky mess

Plans for a stricter voluntary code of practice for Basmati rice suppliers have hit a stumbling block because Indian and Pakistani exporters cannot agree.

The name Basmati applies to rice varieties grown in the Indo-Gangetic Plains, including parts of India and Pakistan, which have been given protected geographic indication status in Europe. The rice commands a price premium in the UK and the European Union also waives import duty.

Under the existing code, rice containing up to 20% of non- Basmati varieties can be sold as Basmati, but the new agreement would limit that to 7% and redefine which varieties can be included. It would also set a ceiling for the permitted amount of broken grains at 20%. Past surveys by the Food Standards Agency revealed that some rice sold as Basmati contained up to 60% of other varieties.

Signatories to the new draft code are the Rice Association (RA), the Grain and Feed Trade Association, the British Rice Millers Association, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and LACORS, which represents local authority regulators.

Damian Testa, the RA's secretary general, said: "We believe we have agreed a text and it is close to becoming a live document but everything has gone very quiet."

Richard Wood, BRC's assistant director for food policy, said Pakistani and Indian exporters could not agree which varieties should be included: "Someone needs to make a political decision, which is likely to upset one party or other." The FSA said that talks continued.