Foreign quarantine regulators to visit Pakistan soon

KARACHI: Quarantine regulators from six different countries are scheduled to visit Pakistan in the near future to assess the fresh edible and meat export supply-chain, which could lead to increased exports of meat, rice, fruits and vegetables, an official said.

The quarantine regulators from Mexico, the Philippines, Australia, China, Russia and Egypt are scheduled to visit Pakistan’s rice, meat, fruits and vegetables sectors, as the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) pushes its export promotion efforts to catering to the changing reality of trade and economics in the world and the societal change the world has gone through due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“These regulators visit supplies countries to assess the quality and processing of importable edible goods such as meat, poultry, fruits and vegetables,” Waheed Ahmed, chairman of the All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Importers Association, said, adding that these regulators often recommend treatment procedures as a prerequisite for exports.

“[The] importing countries are concerned of insects and diseases, which imported goods could bring and threaten their agriculture ecosystem. Therefore, their regulators visit exporting countries, which leads to opening of export markets.”

China does not allow import of meat from countries/areas where foot and mouth disease is present in livestock. Two companies from Pakistan have recently submitted their approved dossier (approved by the MNFSR, AHC and AQD) to the relevant department of Agriculture of China for export of heat treated meat to China.

A delegation from Pakistan will also visit Chinese importers of meat and Chinese government officials.

“We have agreed protocols with several countries regarding [the] treatment of meat, poultry, fruits and vegetables, and these goods are being exported to various countries across the world,” Ahmed said.

The analysts stress that to strengthen the existing food supply chain management, the government should ensure adequate transportation standards and the availability of storage points in the main markets and cold chains to minimise food losses.

“Promoting the export of diverse products, such as canned fruits and jams, could make up for the loss of fresh fruit when proper transport and storage are not available, adds value to the raw product, reduces food losses and might be a valuable new source of foreign exchange,” United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) noted in a recent report.

For the fiscal year 2021/22, the TDAP has developed an annual business plan. More emphasis is laid on the virtual activities, including online seminars, webinars and participation in virtual exhibitions. Similarly, as guided by the Look Africa Policy initiative of the Ministry of Commerce, the participation in exhibitions in the African continent are encouraged through subsidies.

Accordingly, the annual business plan for the international exhibitions is finalised, keeping in view the policy of the Ministry of Commerce for focusing more on China and Africa regions.

For the first time, the TDAP has engaged all regional offices for initiating trade activities related with the potential of that particular region. Similarly, separate trade activities related with women entrepreneurs are made part of the calendar.

Moreover, the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) has also planned participation in the 75 international exhibitions to promote Pakistani products in the potential and existing markets.

Also Read

COVID-19 Positive Cases Rate Rises to 9% in Lahore

Secretary Health Sara Aslam said that the COVID-19 positivity ratio in Lahore...