Digging out old news: 2007:
Pakistani rice being sold with Indian label -DAWN - Business; February 01, 2007
Whatever serves your purpose is Ok....hmm...
Ever bothered to read this:
PAKISSAN.com; Pakistan and India to hammer out joint rice marketing strategy
Some morons in UAE ar eselling Cheap Pakistani Rice as India basmati in Middle East:
http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidZ...rice varieties sold as premium Indian brands/
24 May 2009
Cheap rice from Pakistan, Thailand and other countries is being repackaged and passed off as Indian brands by traders in the UAE.
This follows the imposition of a ban on the export of non-basmati rice by the Indian Government.
"The ban has been in place for some time and Indian rice is not legally available in the UAE market," said a trader. "However, some dealers are importing cheap rice from Pakistan, Thailand and other countries and putting it in packets with Indian rice labels. While the packets are labelled Indian rice, they actually comprise non-Indian rice. Traders are taking advantage of loopholes here and cheating consumers.
"The repackaging takes place in warehouses that are not regularly monitored by authorities, and no one is checking the process here."
Emirates Business has come across some dealers selling rice falsely labelled as Indian. The details printed on the packets falsely state that the rice is Indian non-basmati. "South Indian matta rice is sold through retail markets but the export of this type is banned in India," said another source.
"Apparently retailers are packing rice from other countries as Indian rice. Basmati is also being repacked, with different varieties mixed together and sold as premium brands."
One Indian shopper said: "We get rice packets, said to come from India. The packet says it is Indian rice but we think it is a mixture of cheap rice from various sources. There is no mechanism to ensure that the rice we are eating is genuine Indian rice."
A Dubai Municipality source said inspectors from the Food Control Division checked retailers for adulteration, poor hygiene and the sale of banned items. In addition the municipality has appointed inspectors from Intertek - the international quality and safety services group - to randomly examine food imports.
India banned non-basmati rice exports in 2007 to control prices after demand from government welfare programmes doubled in five years. The government eased the curbs to allow shipment of premium-quality rice as well as exports to African nations, Nepal and Bangladesh in September last year.
Recently the Indian Rice Exporters Association asked the Indian Government to lift the export ban, and a decision is likely to be made soon by the new government. There was bumper crop during the last harvest season and traders have surplus stocks. So the lifting of export ban may cause a further decline in rice price, which has already come down substantially in the UAE.