Raza Khan

Exporters hope that Mexico will soon lift the ban on rice import from Pakistan, as the local rice establishments meet all the international sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures. “After the Mexican team’s visit to various rice establishments here, we hope they will soon lift the ban on rice import from Pakistan,” Chela Ram Kewlani, Chairman Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP), told WealthPK. He said for the last few years, the exporters had been waiting for Mexico to lift the ban on rice import from Pakistan, which could be a great potential market in future. Kewlani said rice processing and storage facilities in Pakistan were up to the international standard.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, Mexico banned rice import from various countries, including Pakistan, in 1995 under the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measure of the WTO agreement. The purported reason for the ban was the presence of khapra beetle (trogoderma granarium) in rice shipments. The ban was relaxed and the import was placed under partial quarantine in 2010. The consignments failing to meet the set criterion were liable to return from the Mexico port, says the Ministry of Commerce in one of its documents.

However, rice import was again banned in 2013 due to the detection of khapra beetle in some shipments. Technical experts from Mexico visited Pakistan in December 2014; however, the ban stayed. Kewlani said the Ministry of Commerce, Pakistan embassy in Mexico and REAP made several efforts to restart rice export to the Latin American State. Following an invitation by the Pakistani authorities, the Mexican government sent a team of inspectors to Pakistan recently. A three-member team of inspectors from The National Health Services, Food Safety and Quality (SENASICA) Mexico visited Pakistan to inspect rice establishments and sanitary and phytosanitary measures, Kewlani said.

“During their stay in Pakistan, the Mexican team members visited various rice mills in Karachi and inspected the processing and storage facilities there,” he said. Kewlani informed WealthPK that the Mexican team also visited H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry, Karachi where it was briefed about the effectiveness of the fumigation process at the rice facilities. The SENASICA’s delegation also met with officials of Ministry of Commerce, Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) and Department of Plant Protection (DPP) of the Ministry of Food Security and Research.

The officials briefed the team about sanitary and phytosanitary measures taken by the authorities to maintain the exports’ standard for rice, the REAP chairman added. Kewlani said the Department of Plant Protection had sent an invitation to Mexico in January 2020 for inspection of rice facilities; however, the Mexican experts could not visit Pakistan due to Covid-19 pandemic. The Mexican authorities earlier maintained that the ban on rice import could not be removed unless the phytosanitary conditions of the product in origin were supervised and inspected.

On the demand of SENASICA, the relevant department in Pakistan submitted a report in July last year on the current situation of pest and rice export facilities in the country. The Mexican authorities were of view that Pakistan needed to further improve its rice storage facilities and procedures and asked for more information, the document say

Credit: INP-WealthPk