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Russia lifts ban on Indian rice

Moscow: Russia has lifted the ban on Indian rice and started issuing quarantine import certificates from July 20.

On June 5, Russia’s phyto-sanitary watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor imposed a total ban on rice imports from India after it found pesticides and other impurities in several consignments.

Russia lifted the ban after the Commerce Secretary G.K. Pillai during his Moscow visit earlier this month, had parleys with Agriculture Ministry officials here and assured them of tightening control on the Indian end, sources said.

He also invited Russian experts to visit India at the time of rice harvest to allay concerns over alleged health hazards posed by the rice grown in the country.

Moscow had claimed that last year up to 12 per cent rice imported from India did not meet its phyto-sanitary norms. For similar reasons Russia had banned import of rice from Pakistan, which has not been lifted so far. —PTI

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