A draft note on the proposal had already been sent to all concerned parties, including exporters, to ascertain their views on the subject, industry sources said.

When contacted, All India Rice Exporters Association(AIREA) executive secretary Anil Adalakha said the organisation supported such a move by the government.

"Government plans to improve the quality system for basmati and introduce checks and balances," he said.

As per the proposal, exporters will have to give details of proceeds from all previous transactions in full within the time prescribed by the Reserve Bank of India.

Government also plans to classify basmati into traditional ones and transgenic ones.

The proposal also has provisions for amending the RBI foreign exchange manual to route applications ofbasmati exporters to authorised dealers through Apeda.

This would ensure that Apeda was informed of any exporter not receiving his/her dues to quality problems, the sources said.

Routing of the applications through Apeda would enable the latter to confirm receipt of application from the exporters so that buyers could proceed against defaulters, the sources said.

All exporters would have to follow the new classification mandatorily.

However,the milling quality control system would be voluntary, though it would be made mandatory after a year.

Exporters opting out of this would have to go through an "in process quality control system" of commerce ministry's export inspection agency to be eligible for exports.

The voluntary system would be controlled by Apeda, while exporters would be asked to maintain details of paddy purchases and milling. This would help in solving disputes over quality.

Besides, an independent agency would inspect whether millers and exporters were using the right quality ofpaddy and adhered to proper milling norms.

Government has stepped in to bring such a "check and balancing system" following complaints of poor quality basmati exports.

Already, AIREA has come out with steps to have facility to test quality of all rice exports in an effort to gain better foothold in the global market.