Russia bans Indian rice imports

Russia has halted imports of rice from India after it said it had detected a banned pesticide in shipments, a minister told parliament on Tuesday. "The Russian side has stated the cause as detection of dimethoate, which is not admissible under Russian regulations," Junior Commerce Minister Jairam Ramesh said.

Ramesh said Rosselkhoznadzor, Russia's animal and plant health watchdog, imposed a ban on the import of Indian rice on April 27 due to the "purported detection of pesticides".

Traders confirmed the move. "Russian authorities recently found this particular pesticide residue in one of the small consignments from India," an official at LT Overseas, one of India's top rice exporters, said. The official, who did not wish to be identified, said the pesticide was not usually found in Indian rice.