The government of Pakistan would send a delegation to Russia which would sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Moscow on lifting ban from its agricultural products.
Sources in Rice Exporting Association of Pakistan (Reap) and All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers, and Merchants Association (APFVEIMA) told Business Recorder on Tuesday that the eight-member delegation would leave the country on August 13, 2007.
They said the delegation with Mohammad Salim Khan Additional Secretary, Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (Minfal) as a leader would include Mohammad Iqbal Chief Operating Officer Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Board, Aziz Manial Chairman Reap, Abdul Wahid President APFVEIMA, Dr Mubarak In charge Pakistan Research Council, Mohammad Anwar Khan Field Officer Quarantine Department, Dr Inayatullah Commissioner Sugarcane and Rice and Chairman Citrus Growers Association Mohammad Azam.
Sources, however, said Rukhsana, a pest expert from Pakistan Research Council, who was scheduled to accompany the delegation would not join it for unknown reasons.
They said the Russian ban on Pakistani agricultural imports would be lifted within a week or so, as the delegation would try to allay the concerns of authorities in Moscow, which were mainly focused on the issuance of Plant Quarantine Certificate (PQC).
"We would comply with all the demands of Russian authorities and would sign an MoU with them in this regard", sources said.
The eight-member delegation, which comprises both officials and experts from the agricultural sector, would spend almost 5 to 6 days there during which it would hold series of meetings with the Russian officials, sources said.
"We would try to clear the misunderstandings of Russia regarding the existence of pests in Pakistani rice and also listen to their concerns and try to remove them", they informed. When asked about the reasons behind Russian ban, sources said, Moscow wanted the overall monitoring system and the issuance of PQC in Pakistan to be improved.
"They have strong reservations on our quarantine system they do not accept the credibility of certificates issued by the quarantine department", said the sources. They said they have taken various measures to satisfy the Russian importers but giving details of these steps at the moment would be premature.
The Russians were less concerned about the quality of our fruit and vegetable commodities like mangoes and kinnows. The main area of concern for them was the rice, which sources said were found infected due to the usage of wheat bags for packing.
"The government would impose ban on filling rice in the wheat bags for export purposes in the country so that the commodity could not be infected with the pests", sources informed. On a query regarding success of the visit sources replied: "We are quite optimistic that we would come back with a good news for the agricultural exporters of the country". The Pakistani Embassy in Russia would receive the delegation, which would come back to the country by August 19, they said. It may be recalled that Russia had banned imports of all agricultural commodities form Pakistan when an insect known as 'khapra beetle' was found in rice consignments during inspection at the Russian ports.
Last year, on rice ban issue, Pakistan and Russia had reached an agreement that Moscow would allow exports from Islamabad if the latter follow the rules of Geneva Convention. Pak-Russia consultation process was saved in a compact disc (CD) and Islamabad was to send the disk to Moscow after its clearance by the higher authorities but officials in the Minfal lost the CD, which put the negotiation process in stalemate.
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