The London-based Food Standards Agency will put into place a Code of Practice to clarify the true line variety of basmati.
It has recently declassified four varieties of rice and said they would not be recognised as 'basmati' for exports into the European Union.
The Code of Practice will be developed in collaboration industry and enforcement agencies and would certify the authenticity of the packed rice being exported.
In a recent meeting with Indian officials, FSA has said that it will attempt to identify individual basmati varieties and detect varieties such as Sharbati, Basmati 198, Basmati 385 and Basmati 386 (mainly exported from Pakistan) in commercial samples.
These varieties do not have a single parentage of basmati and therefore, cannot be labelled as basmati for exports to Europe.
The study to determine whether the rice is genuine basmati would be undertaken through the DNA method. India will communicate changes in DNA markers for the survey and as a start RM 102, RM 171 and RM 330 have been approved.
FSA will provide the Indian side with the required method validation data so that they can be incorporated in the test protocol.
Any claim about the type of rice printed on the pack by the exporter will be verified by FSA for labelling integrity.
"This move being done to ensure that only true basmati, which commands a premium in the international market, reaches European nations," official sources said.
India and Europe have also agreed to exchange a set of authentic control samples. FSA has agreed to send a select set of samples from its current survey to India for validation.
To take forward this scientific collaboration, both entities have decided that results of the test would be discussed between scientists of the two sides. The process to protect the term 'basmati' was initiated a few years back.
FSA was currently undertaking a survey to determine varieties of rice where the term basmati cannot be used.
In the FSA's consultation held in 2002, it was recommended that the term be used for only 11 varieties from India and five varieties from
Pakistan, plus any other that were subsequently approved.
The consultation document had also recommended that the country of origin of the rice be given.
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