We focus on grains and food industry.
We focus on grains and food industry.
We focus on grains and food industry.
We focus on grains and food industry.
We focus on grains and food industry.
We focus on grains and food industry.
We focus on grains and food industry.
We focus on grains and food industry. current time
Rice exports face rejections over pesticide residues, quality gaps
Indian rice exporters are facing increasing scrutiny in overseas markets, with consignments being rejected over pesticide residues, contamination, quality discrepancies, testing differences and incomplete documentation, according to the Indian Rice Exporters Federation (IREF).
The concerns are significant for India, the world’s largest rice exporter. The country shipped 20.19 million metric tonnes of rice worth USD 12.47 billion during 2024-25, based on APEDA data cited by IREF.
The federation said export failures can arise at several points in the supply chain. Residue-related problems may originate from crop protection practices at the farm level, while deviations in quality can occur during procurement, storage and milling. Disputes over product specifications, sampling methods and laboratory testing between exporters and overseas buyers can further increase the risk of consignments being rejected.
Compliance is particularly challenging because regulatory requirements vary between destination markets. In the European Union, for example, imported food products must comply with applicable pesticide maximum residue limits (MRLs), and consignments that fail to meet those requirements can be refused entry at the border.
Dev Garg, National Vice President of IREF, said exporters need to view compliance as part of maintaining market access and competitiveness rather than treating it as a final-stage paperwork requirement.
“For Indian rice exporters, market access does not end when a shipment leaves the port. It ends when that shipment meets the buyer’s requirements in the destination market,” Garg said. He added that the industry needs to assess the entire export chain, from cultivation and procurement through milling, testing, certification and shipment, to identify risks before they result in financial losses.
Rejected consignments can generate substantial additional expenses for exporters. These may include repeat testing, port detention, storage and demurrage, re-shipment or cargo returns, price adjustments and potential damage to commercial relationships with overseas buyers.
IREF said understanding the underlying causes of rejection is therefore as important as tracking the number of rejected shipments.
“We are not looking at rejection simply as a number. We want to understand why shipments are rejected, where the risks are emerging and what exporters can do differently before the next shipment,” Garg said.
He added that identifying recurring problems and strengthening controls earlier in the supply chain could help exporters turn compliance into a competitive advantage rather than simply another business expense.
The issue will be discussed at the Bharat International Rice Conference (BIRC) 2026, scheduled to take place from October 23 to 25 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. IREF will host a dedicated session titled
“Why Buyers Reject Rice Shipments: Quality, Certification and Compliance.”
The session will cover pesticide residues and MRL requirements, sampling and laboratory procedures, product specifications, certification and documentation, traceability and pre-shipment checks. The focus will be on detecting potential compliance failures before consignments reach destination-country borders.
The conference is also expected to produce a “BIRC 2026 Rice Export Compliance Alert”, outlining markets where rejection risks are emerging, the principal causes of shipment failures, potential commercial consequences and measures exporters can adopt to reduce avoidable quality and compliance problems.
