Source: http://pakobserver.net/200806/02/news/business09.asp

Pak records over Indian basmati

New delhi: Even as the domestic basmati rice exporters suffer an export duty and a lowered minimum export price (MEP) with a ban on non-basmati rice export that pre-empted export of non-notified premium varieties such as Pusa 1121, Pakistan stole the thunder by fixing a higher and graded MEP on two varieties of basmati without slapping an export ban on its non-basmati variety. Sources in the export industry told Business Line here that after a marathon meeting from April 29 night till the dawn of April 30, the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan had with its Finance Minister, a notification issued by the Commerce Ministry on May 1, put the MEP for super basmati at $1,500 a tonne, medium grade at $1,300 a tonne and non-basmati Irri-6 at $750 a tonne.

The higher MEP in both the first two varieties of Pakistan was far higher than the $1,000 MEP India has declared but not notified till date. It was contended in Islamabad that the higher MEP would confer maximum benefits on farmers and push growers to augment yield for the next crop. It was further stated that basmati rice production would go up to eight million tonnes in the next crop from the current crop of 5.5 million tonnes. Islamabad said with the MEP in place, the value of rice exports would increase to $4 billion by the end of this year from the $1.2 billion last year. Policy analysts say that by putting a higher MEP, Pakistan is signaling the message to the rest of the world that its basmati rice is better quality than the counterpart Indian varieties.

Already when India notified a variety in 2006 that was originally evolved by Pakistan, there was some resentment in Islamabad that led to the stalling of joint bid by New Delhi and Islamabad for a geographic indication (GI) to basmati rice. Now by putting a higher MEP to its super basmati variety at $1,500, Pakistan has sent an unequivocal signal to the connoisseur of basmati that its variety is superior, deserving a premium price, against India’s basmati MEP at $1,000 a tonne. —Agencies

Was there ever any doubt about the superiority of Pakistani Basmati?

I know first hand a supplier who goes to Pakistan, buys "chawal" from open market, packs them in "made in India" bags, and sells here in Canada. According to him Indians never buy Pakistani rice (or any other products), hence his excuse for rebalelling.

lol. stealing the product and pakistani patent, still cant grow the rice properly. hehehehehehehe.

Off topic

Couple of days ago i was wearing a blueish purplish (i dont know what to call the color) shirt and fueling the gas at a pump and this white dude comes up to me and asks me where i got the shirt from. He couldnt figure out the material in the shirt he then declared it first velvet + cotton and then some kind of silk. Next he asked me that he wants to get one and you should have seen his face when i said my friend sent it from pakistan. lol.

At work I got some guy asking about my pants...he said "Mexx or Zara?"...I was like "some tailor in Pakistan." He asked how much it cost, I said like $25-30...he was shocked and impressed...said he got a shirt made in UAE and it didn't turn out well as he hoped. I told him that some tailors in Pakistan do excellent custom fits and he said he'd "take the risk to fly there" for the "good clothes".

Your media is one of the most uneducated bunches anywhere in the world. Just 6 months back India has MSP of zero dollars, it didn't even exist. The MSP is set, in these hard times, to control/reduce rice export. The rate of MSP is determined based on how much surplus rice a country has for export, since India has a large rice surplus it has set a lower MSP. Pakistan also has a huge surplus of rice but since it is going through a wheat crisis it has set a higher MSP to discourage exports of lower quality rice. When the times were good there was no MSP either in India or Pakistan. The MSP method is standard tool that nations use to augment domestic supply and bring down prices. Just couple of days back Dawn reported that rice prices in Pak has dropped by Rs10,000/ton, you can thank that high MSP for that. Once new crop comes in the MSP be gone in both country so the whole thing is so ridiculous and childish that it is hard to believe that it was published in a national daily.