{{The Minister of Trade and Industry, François Kanimba November 5, launched new instructions determining guidelines on rice processing and trading for farmers’ cooperatives engaged in Paddy rice trade, rice processors, importers, distributors/wholesalers and retailers of processed rice. }}
Kanimba met cooperatives of Rice Farmers in Busoro Sector, Nyanza District, Southern where he said, “70% of Rice consumed in Rwanda is produced locally while 30% is imported.”
He said that the instructions aim at regulating distribution channels for locally produced and imported rice ensuring fair competition and value for money to the consumers.
Under new instructions, it is envisaged that only cooperatives of rice farmers shall be authorized to sell and distribute paddy rice and only to registered rice processing plants that have a license to process rice issued by the Minister of Trade and Industry.
Rice cooperatives shall have to enter into a written supply contract with a rice processing plant.
In order to assist rice farmers to increase production and maintain infrastructures related to rice growing, Kanimba noted that anyone applying for the authorization to establish a rice processing plant should provide among others a list of cooperatives of rice growers that have signed contracts to supply them.
This supply arrangement between farmers’ cooperatives and rice millers shall involve an acquisition of 40% shares within the rice processing plant that shall belong to members of those cooperatives.
Rice processing plants shall set up modalities of packaging rice in bags of 2 and 5 kilogram bags in addition to the bags of 25 and 50 kilos already available on the market in order to prevent illegal rice re-packaging conducted by some of retailers.
The instructions stipulate also that rice processing plants and importers have to check if the labeling on the bags meet the requirements concerning the Brand of the rice (such as Basmati, Kigori, Nerika, …), Grade (One or two or three), Place of processing, Number of lot, Weight, Country of processing, Expiry date.
The labeling on bags shall be prominently visible to all customers and ineradicable.
The Minister called upon all rice processors, wholesalers and retailers to desist from fraudulent practices such as modifying or mixing grades of rice and mislabeling of rice bags which violates the law.
Any individual or corporate found to be in violation of such shall be punished in accordance with the relevant laws.
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