The governments ban on rice imports, which has been in place since July 21, will be lifted as of November 21, the deputy head of Government Trading Corporation, Hassam Abbasi Maroufan as saying. The Iranian government imposes a ban on rice imports every year during the harvest season to support local farmers, Mehr News Agency.
Domestic production stands at around 2.2 million tons annually, while demand is almost 3.2 million tons. Therefore, there is a need for close to 1 million tons of imports every year, said Maroufan.