Rice Industry of Pakistan
(II) RICE INDUSTRY
According to UN’s ITSY , rice is the second largest commodity exported out of Pakistan where the food, beverages, and tobacco (HS 2002 sections 0+1), of which it is a part, accounted for 16.8% of Pakistan’s total exported goods in 2008 (ITSY, 2008). In the same year, UK imported $56,207.0 million worth of food, beverages, and tobacco with an average share of 8.9% of total imports. Rice falls in division 10 according to HS 2002 (Appendix A13) and 04 under SITC rev.3 under cereals and cereal preparations . Its prominent position as second highest export from Pakistan was deemed important for its inclusion in the study.
The main variety of rice imported from Pakistan is Basmati rice which grows in the valleys of Punjab in the foothills of the Himalayas, and Irri rice which grows in the province of Sindh. These varieties of rice are unique to the area and cannot be found anywhere in the world. Punjab territory spans in both India and Pakistan and that is why these two countries are the only sources of basmati rice in the world. The aroma of the cooked basmati rice, its non-sticky texture, and the pleasant unique taste are what make basmati rice special and different from the other varieties of rice. It is harvested as paddy rice with husk on the outside that is de-husked in the country of origin because it is about 40% of the weight and has virtually no value. The husk is used predominantly as a heat source in Pakistan. Most of it goes either into boilers at the rice mills for steam for drying or into the brick kilns for drying bricks. Once that is taken off the source what is left is the brown rice underneath that has the brown on the outside. Some mills in the UK do not buy milled white rice from Pakistan because import of brown basmati rice to Europe is duty-free as long as a certificate of authenticity of basmati from Pakistan authorities is presented. However, if it was milled in Pakistan and imported as final product into Europe then a duty
According to UN’s ITSY , rice is the second largest commodity exported out of Pakistan where the food, beverages, and tobacco (HS 2002 sections 0+1), of which it is a part, accounted for 16.8% of Pakistan’s total exported goods in 2008 (ITSY, 2008). In the same year, UK imported $56,207.0 million worth of food, beverages, and tobacco with an average share of 8.9% of total imports. Rice falls in division 10 according to HS 2002 (Appendix A13) and 04 under SITC rev.3 under cereals and cereal preparations . Its prominent position as second highest export from Pakistan was deemed important for its inclusion in the study.
The main variety of rice imported from Pakistan is Basmati rice which grows in the valleys of Punjab in the foothills of the Himalayas, and Irri rice which grows in the province of Sindh. These varieties of rice are unique to the area and cannot be found anywhere in the world. Punjab territory spans in both India and Pakistan and that is why these two countries are the only sources of basmati rice in the world. The aroma of the cooked basmati rice, its non-sticky texture, and the pleasant unique taste are what make basmati rice special and different from the other varieties of rice. It is harvested as paddy rice with husk on the outside that is de-husked in the country of origin because it is about 40% of the weight and has virtually no value. The husk is used predominantly as a heat source in Pakistan. Most of it goes either into boilers at the rice mills for steam for drying or into the brick kilns for drying bricks. Once that is taken off the source what is left is the brown rice underneath that has the brown on the outside. Some mills in the UK do not buy milled white rice from Pakistan because import of brown basmati rice to Europe is duty-free as long as a certificate of authenticity of basmati from Pakistan authorities is presented. However, if it was milled in Pakistan and imported as final product into Europe then a duty