Pakistan has tightened grip on international rice trade with a view to getting rid of any impression of involving in the trade of tainted genetically modified (GM) rice, officials said….
Federal government, [in April], issued instructions to Department of Plant Protection, Ministry of Food Security & Research (MFS&R) for strict regulation of inbound and exporting rice consignments.
This move was initiated following serious concerns raised by Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) about incidence of detecting GM rice from some shipments, resulting in rejection of exporting consignments from European Union.
Echoing similar concerns, Punjab government on April 10, 2018 wrote a letter to express strong reservations about tainted trade of GM rice.
“We do not produce GM rice nor do we import it. Hence, there is no possibility of any involvement of local companies in the processing of GM rice,” a government official said. “If at all it is detected from some consignments, it could have sourced from outside country, which needs to be checked thoroughly.”
As a result of the tight regulation, Pakistan blocked entry of a Chinese rice seed shipment….
Read full, original post: Pakistan tightens regulatory checks on cargoes to curb GM rice trade
