Issuance of export certificates: action taken by minister helps avert crisis at seaport

Timely action taken by commerce minister averted a serious crisis. The minister allowed the quarantine department to work beyond office timings for issuance of export certificates. Exporters informed BR that during a surprise visit to the office of the quarantine department situated at seaport last Monday, Minister of State, Ministry of National Food Security and Research, Syed Ayaz Ali Shah admonished the staff for performing their duties beyond office timings and asked the department to follow only the official timings with immediate effect.
They added that the minister of state took his step without consulting the stakeholders. He issued directives that with effect from Feb 1, 2018 office timings of 08:00 am to 04:00 pm will strictly be followed at the seaport offices of the Department of Plant Protection (DPP) and Saturday will be a holiday.
These directives created panic among exporters and importers of agriculture products as the staff of the Quarantine Department, posted at seaport, is responsible for ensuring the enforcement of quarantine rules for imported agriculture products. The staff is also responsible for issuing phytosanitary certificates to all export consignments of agriculture produces arriving at the seaport from different parts of the country, besides inspecting fumigation in the arriving vessels.
Vice president, Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), Waheed Ahmed said mostly, fruits are brought from Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab and it's a difficult job for the quarantine department having inadequate manpower to inspect at field and pack houses to issue the phyto-certificates, however the quarantine staff posted at the seaport are really extending a supportive role in this regard.
He said but now exports of agricultural produces are well protected due to timely action taken by federal ministry of commerce. "Comprehending far-reaching consequences likely to have serious negative impact on export & import of this sector, I, as a representative of FPPCI, personally approached the federal minister for commerce Pervaiz Malik to get the issue resolved," he maintained.
The commerce minister immediately directed commerce secretary Younus Dagha to co-ordinate with the Ministry of National Food Security and Research to get this official order withdrawn, he added.
Within a few hours, the commerce secretary informed exporters and importers that sensing the serious consequences of the issue and drastic negative impact and anticipated huge financial loss to trade as well as exporters, he managed to get this order withdrawn and as a result the staff of the quarantine department posted at seaports would continue to provide services as usual.
Waheed Ahmed thanked Pervaiz Malik and the commerce secretary for their sincere efforts in getting this serious issue resolved in a few hours. He hoped that the ministry of commerce would keep on playing a vital role so that the objective of enhancing exports could be achieved and subsequently assist in getting the country out of economic crises.