Neighbour, may I borrow rice?
Nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan have a new ingredient in their long-simmering rivalry: basmati rice.
India has asked the European Union to recognize the fragrant, long-grain staple as originating in seven Indian States and territories, which would give its producers exclusive rights to the basmati label in the lucrative European market.
Pakistan rejects India’s claim, arguing that its farmers grow basmati rice, too, and is expected to file a formal objection with the EU by its Dec. 10 deadline. The tussle is just one of the many disputes entangling India and Pakistan, which were partitioned upon independence from Britain in 1947 and have fought three wars since.
At stake is not only a major export industry, but also bragging rights over a mainstay of South Asian cooking — whether layered with onions and spices in hearty biryanis or fluffed with vegetables in delicate pulaos.
India’s 2018 application, which was published in an EU journal in September, asked the bloc to grant “geographical indication” status to its basmati rice, which would tag it as a product inextricably connected to its place of origin — similar to Champagne from France, potatoes from Idaho or Kalamata olives from Greece. GI labels often serve as a mark of quality and help exporters charge higher prices.
The designation would probably boost Indian basmati exports, which have plunged in Europe due to failure to meet the continent’s tough restrictions on pesticides.
India sold $4.3 billion (U.S.) worth of basmati overseas last year, three-quarters of it to the Middle East. Roughly $180 million was sold to the U.S., according to the All India Rice Exporters Assn.
Although an EU designation would not apply in the U.S. market, it could help lift the profile of basmati as an Indian product in the minds of global consumers.
“If India gets the GI tag, it would make our basmati even more attractive in the international market,” said Rajeev Setia, joint managing director of Chaman Lal Setia, an Indian rice exporter in the northern state of Haryana. “Countries around the world are looking for authenticity.”
The government of Pakistan, whose basmati exports totalled $582 million in 2018-19, second only to India, said last month that it would “vehemently oppose” India’s application.
Although India controls two-thirds of the global basmati market, competition between the countries has grown in recent years as Pakistan increases sales to Europe and Iran, India’s main customer.
Indian suppliers have found it difficult to receive payments from Iran without running afoul of U.S. and international sanctions against the Islamic Republic. News reports indicate that Pakistani traders have been able to set up new barter mechanisms with Iran while Indians have struggled to quickly convert their old cash-based deals to barter.