Over 800 containers of Pakistani rice held at Kenyan port: laboratory analysis reports awaited

Over 800 containers of Pakistani rice worth $8.0 million have been held at the Kenyan port as the authorities refused to release them until laboratory analysis reports. Kenyan customs have imposed restrictions that all rice imported into the country will not be released from the port until laboratory analysis reports (LAR) in respect to grading have been received in the station of clearance.
Local rice exporters said Kenyan customs have suddenly imposed new requirement of LAR without prior information. Rafiq Sulaman, Vice Chairman, Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (Reap) told Business Recorder that earlier, certificate issued by Kenya Bureau of Standards was required for clearance which is not being accepted by Kenya Revenue Authority. "Even any consignment with all supporting document are not being released without getting the lab test results," he added.
He said Kenya is very important market for Pakistani long grain rice. Pakistan has exported 364,237 MT of long grain Irri-6 Rice amounting to $134.1 million to Kenya last fiscal year during July 2009 to June 2010 which is a record in the history of rice export trade.
"We had planed to increase our rice exports to Kenya during current fiscal year, however this issue would certainly hurt our trade," he said. He pointed out that rice exports to Kenya have declined as only 250 tons rice has been exported to Kenya during last week.
It is very critical issue and local rice exporters are facing huge financial losses on account of demurrages and they will have to bear extra costs of around $300 to $500 per container. Due to this issue, Pakistani rice exporters are also worried about their future orders. Reap has demanded of the government to immediately resolve this issue.
The rice exporters have requested Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim to take up this matter with Kenyan government and resolve the problems of rice export industry, which earns more than $2.0 billion foreign exchange annually for the country. Reap has also written a letter to Kenyan High Commissioner in Pakistan regarding this issue.
They said Pakistan and Kenya are enjoying very good bilateral relations and Pakistani authorities should take up this issue on an urgent basis to maintain trade relations between the two friendly countries. They said Pakistan is one of the largest importers of tea from Kenya and on the other hand Kenya is a big market for Pakistani long grain rice.