A recent revelation has brought the light that substandard and counterfeit rice have been exported from Pakistan to the European Union (EU).

The question was discussed at a meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee for Trade, led by Muhammad Javed Hanif, where the EU’s objections to Pakistani rice exports were considered.

Committee member Mirza Ikhtiyar Baig revealed that over 100 alarms were issued by the EU about the quality of rice exported from Pakistan.

He highlighted concern about fake and substandard rice delivered to the EU markets, adding that there was an increasing amount of counterfeit material in the rice sold.

“How do these problems slip through under our noses?” Asked Baig and emphasized the need for better supervision.

Committee Member Sharmila Faruqi noted that the EU had introduced 72 barriers to Pakistani rice exports by 2024, quoting problems with quality, pointing out that despite the formation of a new national food security authority, questions remained related to the quality of Rice exports, unresolved.

Trade secretary, Jawad Pahl, responded to the concerns and stated that no formal warnings were issued by the EU. “There is no problem, but it has been blown out of proportions,” he said.

Further discussions revealed that the EU had issued a warning of a rice dispatch from Punjab. Committee members emphasized the need for better cooperation with agricultural sectors to tackle these export problems. Mirza Ikhtiyar Baig assured that this year’s rice production was robust and exports had been strong.

Officials in the Trade Department informed the committee that they were working with provincial authorities to tackle concerns for rice quality and had held several meetings with relevant stakeholders.

Another committee member mentioned that Bangladesh had placed an order of 50,000 tonnes of rice from TCP, which emphasized the urgent of solving risk quality problems to maintain export markets.

The committee decided to invite the rice exporters’ associations to the next meeting to receive a detailed orientation on the matter. The President emphasized the importance of tackling these concerns thoroughly with all stakeholders.