GGA International

Quality & Compliance

Proof, not promises.

Anyone can describe their rice. An importer asks something narrower: what did you test, when did you test it, and what will you put in writing. Everything below is answerable with a document.


Certifications

What each mark actually covers

Our homepage shows six certification marks in a row. A certificate logo is decoration until someone tells you its scope, so here is what each one covers, who issues it, and when ours expires.

Certifications held
APEDARegistration to export scheduled agricultural products, including Basmati rice.Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority, Government of India[RCMC number][date]
ISO 22000Food safety management system across milling, storage, packing and despatch.[certification body][number][date]
HACCPHazard analysis and critical control points across the process line.[certification body][number][date]
FSSAIFood business operator licence for manufacture and export.Food Safety and Standards Authority of India[licence number][date]
BRCGSGlobal Standard for Food Safety, covering the milling and packing site.[certification body and grade][number][date]
HALALHalal certification for Muslim-majority destination markets.[certifying body][number][date]

QC protocol

Tested three times, not once

Quality control that happens only at despatch is inspection. Doing it at three points is control, because two of them can still change the outcome.

StageWhat is tested
At intakeMoisture, admixture, immature and damaged grain, foreign matter and paddy odour, on every truck before it is tipped. A lot outside the intake band is rejected, not blended down into one that passes.
In processGrain length, breakage, degree of whiteness and moisture, sampled every [shift] across the milling line. Sorter settings are adjusted against the lot standard rather than left at a default.
Pre-despatchA retained sample is drawn from every lot before stuffing and held for [12 months]. Container condition, seal number and net weight are recorded alongside the shipping documents.

Tolerances

Our tolerances, against the trade

The homepage lists five parameters. This is the full sheet, and the right-hand column is why it matters.

Despatch tolerances compared with common trade norms
MoistureMax 12.5%Max 14.0%
Broken grainMax 2.0%Max 5.0%
Foreign matterNilMax 0.1%
Damaged / discolouredMax 0.5%Max 1.0%
Chalky grainMax 1.0%Max 3.0%
Admixture, other varietiesMax 5.0%Max 10.0%
Avg. grain length8.35mm+7.50mm+
Whole grain uniformityMin 95%Min 90%

Residue & MRL compliance

Residue limits, before the container leaves

A shipment can be flawless on every physical parameter and still be turned back at the port on a residue reading. This is where Basmati consignments are most often rejected, and it is the one failure that cannot be fixed after loading.

The residue that ends most rejections is tricyclazole, a fungicide the European Union limits on rice to [0.01 mg/kg] — a level at which “we don't use much” is not an answer.

Every export lot is tested against the destination's schedule before it is stuffed: EU Regulation 396/2005 limits for European buyers, GSO requirements for the Gulf Cooperation Council. Testing is carried out at [an APEDA-recognised laboratory] and the certificate of analysis travels with the documents.

Compliance starts in the field rather than the lab. Growers on our contract programme work to a permitted-inputs list keyed to the markets we ship into — see the farmer network on our About page.

The laboratory

The laboratory

Testing happens on site, on the same shift as the milling it governs. A sample sent away and read three days later cannot change a setting.

  • Moisture meter, whole grain and flour
  • Digital grain length gauge
  • Whiteness and milling-degree meter
  • Precision analytical balance
  • Sample huller and laboratory mill
  • Cooking station for elongation and aroma
  • Reference light box for sorter calibration

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