The Trading Corporation of Pakistan has referred a request of small and medium rice exporters to Commerce Ministry for conducting a pre-shipment inspection of rice meant for export purposes, exporters said.
The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (Unisame) in its letter of September 24, has urged the TCP to conduct pre-shipment inspection of small and medium rice exporters instead of quality review committee (QRC) of Reap.
The Unisame has expressed apprehension that the small and medium rice exporters, who lost recent elections and mostly of whom are members of the Union, might face problems and hurdles in the pre-shipment inspection by QRC.
It is important to mention here that the TCP has also agreed with their point of view.
An official of the TCP said that the corporation was already undertaking pre-shipment inspection of 13 rice exporters on the directive of Sindh High Court (SHC) and subsequent decision of the government since 2001.
He said that the TCP was equipped with all the testing equipment to inspect rice and issue quality certificate, which is accepted by Customs and importing countries.
"We conduct a thorough examination of the exported rice and do not issue quality certificate unless we are 100 percent satisfied with the specifications", he added.
He said that if asked, TCP could examine a sizeable numbers of rice export consignments. "We can increase the number of our inspection staff to cater to the growing demand for pre-shipment inspection," he added.
He said that rice was a major foreign exchange earner for the country and groupings, which emerged in the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (Reap) after recent elections, can definitely affect Pakistan's rice export in future.
It may be noted that a group of small and medium rice exporters has been raising the questions about the credibility of QRC and quality of its pre-shipment inspection for the last several years.
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