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EU rice regime to benefit US at India's cost

The European Union's proposed new rice regime, under which tariff rate quotas for various countries will be fixed, is expected to benefit the Untied States at India's cost affecting its exports of basmati which have shown an uptrend in the last few years.

India is now in a quandary whether to try postponing negotiations on the subject or press for a quota for its white basmati, since the present system provides for a duty abatement only for brown basmati, official sources said.

Officials said India stands to lose under the new regime providing for a fixed quota of 155,000 tonnes, as this will prevent further growth of the country's exports of the commodity to the EU.

The status quo of market share of rice exporting countries under a new regime will benefit the US, whose share India has been gradually nibbling into in the past few years, they said.

The US is a substantial supplier of rice to the EU and has close to 25 per cent share in the region's imports of a million tonnes.

India is also a major supplier and its brown basmati exports to the EU have increased to 140,000 tonnes in

2001-02 from 40,000 tonnes in 1995-96.

Officials said that one alternative was for India to seek a quota for white basmati which fetches a price around $200 a tonne higher than brown basmati.

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