The European Union (EU) has again cancelled its Pakistan visit because of law and order situation in the country, reliable sources in the fisheries sector said. The EU inspection team, during its visit was to assess the conditions of fisheries sector whether its prescribed specifications are followed before lifting a three-year ban on the country's seafood export.
However, DG Marine Fisheries Department (MFD), Moazam Khan denied that the EU has cancelled its visit, saying that it had never set any date for visiting Pakistan. However, the Pakistani embassy in Europe had informed the government that the visit might take place sometime in March or April this year, he said.
If the EU team did not visit in March it might arrive in April for reviewing the conditions of fisheries sector, he said. He termed the report about cancellation of EU team visit as rumour. Khan said that the spadework for the expected EU visit has been done and the MFD is ready to receive the delegation. He reiterated that EU team could visit anytime.
Official sources requesting anonymity told Business Recorder on Saturday that MFD has already been informed about the EU visit cancellation officially but is reluctant to make it public. They said that MFD has also informed the seafood processing units, which were ready for inspection during EU's mid-March visit. Industry sources also confirmed that the EU team has cancelled its tour this time again. Last year, EU visit scheduled for mid-November was also cancelled because of the law and order situation in the country.