In May, officials from China had inspected facilities in India for export of non-basmati rice to the country, and registered 19 mills and processing units for import of the rice. In June, a protocol on phyto-sanitary norms for exporting rice from India to China was signed between the two governments. This protocol amended the earlier version on phyto-sanitary requirements to include export of non-basmati rice from India. There is potential for India to export 1 mln tn of rice to China in a few years. India exported 12.7 mln tn of rice in the financial year ended March 2018, up from 10.8 mln tn a year ago, thereby retaining the top position in the global trade of the food grain.