Meeting to discuss gur exports issue on February 9

KARACHI: The Ministry of Commerce has convened a meeting on February 9 to discuss the issue of gur (jaggery) exports, a statement said on Tuesday.

Agro Products Director General Dr Kausar Zaidi convened the meeting on the request of the Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (Unisame) to Federal Commerce Secretary Sauleh Farooqui and on the recommendations of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority.

The farmers were exporting brown sugar and gur, which were also used domestically; however, due to the shortage of white sugar, the Cabinet has imposed a ban on the exports of white sugar, Zaidi said.

Being the allied products of the refined sugar, the brown sugar and gur were banned though there was no intention to place these two items in the list, he added.

Unisame President Zulfikar Thaver said: “We have been trying to explain to the policymakers to lift the ban and fortunately the Lahore High Court lifted the ban on its production, saying in its order that it is unconstitutional to ban its production and no provincial or federal government will create any impediment in its production.”

“Subsequently the PSQCA adopted its standard as a sweetener under the classifications of raw sugar and gur,” he added.

Thaver said that the Smeda held meetings with the Unisame and after studying the facts, it recommended the Unisame’s proposals to lift the ban and subsequently, the Ministry of Industries and Production also recommended lifting the ban, Thaver said.

Zeeshan Nazim, a leading exporter of commodities said: “We lost many customers because we could not ship the banned items. The customers usually buy all items from one shipper and when we were unable to provide the banned items, they would place the order with the exporters of the neighbouring countries who can ship all the required items.”

The Unisame Council thanked Smeda, Ministry of Commerce, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and PSQCA for comprehending the need for lifting the ban on gur and supporting the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) farmers, producers and exporters.