"The protocol is ready and would be given to EU soon. This would help them in distinguishing between basmati and non-basmati rice for levying tariff," official sources said.
Basmati rice enjoys zero percent import duty in the European Union. Sources said the EU will have to develop its own verification method after the DNA protocol is submitted.
Certification of every consignment based on the DNA markers would be a time consuming and a lengthy affair besides being too expensive.
Basmati DNA protocol has been developed by the Centre for DNA Finger Printing and Diagnostics in Hyderabad and is the only institute conducting high-end research in the field.
The EU, which extends duty concessions to brown basmati rice, introduced a new rice import regime in September this year with certain changes.
The main reason behind certification for varieties of basmati is to prevent any fraudulent export of non-basmati varieties as basmati, to gain preferential tariffs. India's annual basmati exports are estimated at 700,000 tonnes to 800,000 tonnes.
