Lok Sabha Question No. 2057 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-11
Subject: Low Pesticide Levels for Rice Export
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: Thiru Arun Nehru

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE)

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2057 ANSWERED ON 11/03/2025

## LOW PESTICIDE LEVELS FOR RICE EXPORT

## 2057. THIRU ARUN NEHRU:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE & INDUSTRY ( वाणिज्य एवं उद्योग मं त्री ) be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  it  is  a  fact  that  European  Union  (EU)  has  updated  its  control  list  with unreasonable low pesticide  levels  (viz.  EU  limit  -  Aflatoxin  B1:  2  µg/kg,  India  limit  through FSSAI - 10 µg/kg, US limit - 20 µg/kg) for rice export from India, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether this has affected many rice producers from the States of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu who export non basmati rice, if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether this has taken away the advantage Indian companies during the years and the sudden change in control limit has given unfair advantages to ASEAN countries who have taken the Indian producers position in EU, if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the details of steps taken to level this unfair step;
- (e) whether many EU companies take advantage of the Indian market with liberal rules; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## वाणिज्य और उद्योग मंत्रालय में राज्य मंत्री (श्री णिणिन प्रसाद)

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (SHRI JITIN PRASADA)

- (a) The individual countries including European Union as a region, set their own Maximum Residue  Levels  (MRLs)  for  pesticides,  based  on  the  risk  assessment  carried  out  by  them.  In many cases, the MRLs set by EU, which are set on hazard-based approach, are lower(stricter) than the MRLs set by the FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India).

Aflatoxin is a contaminant in food and feed and not a pesticide. The comparative level of MRLs of Aflatoxin set by EU and FSSAI is as under:

|              | MRL(µg/kg), as on date   | MRL(µg/kg), as on date   | MRL(µg/kg), as on date   |
|--------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|
| Contaminant  | EU                       | US                       | FSSAI                    |
| Aflatoxin B1 | 2                        | 20                       | 10                       |

## (b) & (c) The EU MRLs apply to all exporting countries.

The MRL for Aflatoxin B1 for rice, has not been revised by the EU in the recent past. There have  been  a  few  detections  of  Aflatoxin  (in  form  of  Rapid  Alert  System  for  Food  and  Feed (RASFF) alerts) in rice consignments exported from India to the EU, however no detections have been reported for rice consignments exported by exporters of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, in the last 5 years.

As  per  trade  data,  the  volume  of  Rice  exports  from  India  to  the  EU  has  increased  by  111% between 2019 and 2023, while the volume of non-Basmati rice exports has increased by 500 %, during the same period, which is higher than the ASEAN countries.

The details of exports of Rice and non-Basmati Rice to the EU is as below:

| Rice Exports to EU             | Rice Exports to EU             | Rice Exports to EU             | Rice Exports to EU                   |
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
| Exporting Country              | Unit: Qty in "000"MT           | Unit: Qty in "000"MT           | Absolute Growth (%) during 2019-2023 |
|                                | 2019                           | 2023                           | Absolute Growth (%) during 2019-2023 |
| India                          | 124                            | 262                            | 111.29%                              |
| Thailand                       | 246                            | 209                            | -15.04%                              |
| Cambodia                       | 179                            | 253                            | 41.34%                               |
| Vietnam                        | 57                             | 57                             | 0%                                   |
| Pakistan                       | 344                            | 386                            | 12.21%                               |
| Myanmar                        | 467                            | 549                            | 17.56%                               |
| Non-Basmati Rice Exports to EU | Non-Basmati Rice Exports to EU | Non-Basmati Rice Exports to EU | Non-Basmati Rice Exports to EU       |
| Exporting Country              | Unit: Qty in "000"MT           | Unit: Qty in "000"MT           | Absolute Growth (%)                  |
|                                | 2019                           | 2023                           | during 2019-2023                     |
| India                          | 2                              | 12                             | 500%                                 |
| Thailand                       | 246                            | 209                            | -15.04%                              |
| Cambodia                       | 179                            | 253                            | 41.34%                               |
| Vietnam                        | 57                             | 57                             | 0%                                   |
| Pakistan                       | 198                            | 208                            | 5.05%                                |
| Myanmar                        | 467                            | 549                            | 17.56%                               |

Source: ITC Trade Map

(d) to (f) India  has  been  complying  with  the  requirements  of  the  importing  countries, including that of the EU.  However, in case where the MRLs/ML of pesticides and contaminants have  been  lowered  significantly,  India  has  taken  up  with  the  concerned  country  and  also  the European  Union,  through  bilateral  discussions.  In  the  absence  of  resolution  through  bilateral discussions, Specific Trade Concerns (STC) are then raised at the World Trade Organisation(WTO).

Further, to ensure that the rice growers comply with the MRLs set by EU and other importing nations,  State  Agriculture  departments  and  Agriculture  Universities  conduct  capacity  building and sensitization programmes of the growers to adopt good agricultural practices and to ensure judicious use of agro-chemicals.

As  regards,  entry  of  European  Union  (EU)  Companies,  trade  and  investment  with  all  major trading partners is an ongoing process including exchange of business delegations and Business to Business (B2B) interactions.

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Annexure referred to in reply to Part (a) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2057 for answer on 11.03.2025

A.   List of frequently detected pesticide molecules exceeding the MRL set by EU in Rice consignments exported from India from 2015 to 2025

| Pesticide Residue    |   2015 |   2016 |   2017 |   2018 |   2019 |   2020 |   2021 |   2022 |   2023 |   2024 |   2025 |   Total |
|----------------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|---------|
| Tricyclazole         |      0 |      0 |      0 |     14 |      8 |      7 |      6 |     22 |     19 |     19 |      2 |      97 |
| Thiamethoxam         |      0 |      0 |      0 |      1 |      6 |      2 |      6 |     12 |     15 |     15 |      3 |      60 |
| Chlorpyrifos         |      0 |      0 |      0 |      2 |      0 |      0 |      2 |      2 |      6 |      5 |      1 |      18 |
| Imidacloprid         |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      1 |      5 |      3 |      0 |       9 |
| Carbendazim          |      7 |      1 |      0 |      7 |      0 |      0 |      1 |      1 |      1 |      2 |      0 |      20 |
| Propiconazole        |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      2 |      1 |      2 |      0 |       5 |
| Buprofezin           |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      2 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |       2 |
| Profenofos           |      1 |      0 |      0 |      1 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      1 |      0 |      0 |       3 |
| Thifluzamide         |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      2 |      0 |       2 |
| Imazalil             |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      1 |      0 |       1 |
| Acephate             |      1 |      1 |      5 |      3 |      2 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      12 |
| Methamidophos        |      1 |      0 |      3 |      2 |      1 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |       7 |
| Triazophos           |      2 |      0 |      0 |      3 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |       5 |
| Chlorpyriphos-methyl |      1 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |       1 |
| Hexaconazole         |      2 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |       2 |

Source: EU RASFF Portal

Aflatoxin is a contaminant in food and feed, and not a pesticide

B.  Comparative  analysis  of  EU  MRLs,  Codex  MRLs  and  FSSAI  MRLs  for  frequently detected pesticide molecules in consignment of Rice exported from India

| Sl. No.   | of Pesticide                | EU MRLs mg/kg     | EU MRLs mg/kg   | Codex mg/kg   | FSSAI mg/kg   |
|-----------|-----------------------------|-------------------|-----------------|---------------|---------------|
|           | Name Molecules              | Prior to Revision | Revised         |               |               |
| 1.        | Tricyclazole                | 1.00              | 0.01            | -             | 3.0           |
| 2.        | Thiamethoxam                | 0.01              | 0.01            | 3.0**         | 0.02          |
| 3.        | Chlorpyrifos /Chlorpyriphos | 0.50              | 0.01            | -             | 0.5           |
| 4.        | Imidacloprid                | 1.50              | 0.01            | -             | 0.05          |
| 5.        | Carbendazim                 | 0.01              | 0.01            | 2.0*          | 2.0           |
| 6.        | Propiconazole               | 1.50              | 0.01            | -             | 0.05          |
| 7.        | Buprofezin                  | 0.50              | 0.01            | -             | 0.05          |
| 8.        | Profenofos                  | 0.01              | 0.01            | -             | -             |
| 9.        | Thifluzamide                | -                 | -               | -             | 0.05          |
| 10.       | Imazalil                    | 0.05              | 0.01            | -             | -             |
| 11.       | Acephate                    | 0.02              | 0.01            | 1.0 *         | 1.0           |
| 12.       | Methamidophos               | 0.01              | 0.01            | 0.6 *         | -             |
| 13.       | Triazophos                  | 0.02              | 0.02            | 0.6**         | 0.6           |
| 14.       | Chlorpyriphos-methyl        | 3.00              | 0.01            | -             | -             |

* MRLs in husked rice  ** MRLs in polished rice

Source: EU Pesticide database, CODEX & FSSAI

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