Pakistan has allowed open import of vegetables from India to meet shortage in the country after flash floods damaged vegetables on hundreds of acres across the country, official sources told Business Recorder. The reason behind this decision was that, on the one hand, about 42 importers, with political contacts, approached the Commerce Ministry to get exclusive rights and, on the other, prices of perishable items were showing unprecedented increase.
A Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO), issued by the Commerce Ministry, a copy of which is available with this newspaper, says "In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Imports and Exports (Control) Act, 1950 (XXXIX of 1950) the federal government directs that the following amendments shall be made in the Import Policy Order, 2009".
According to the SRO, in Appendix-G at the end, under the heading ' note' in paragraph(1) after the figure '48', the following shall be added, namely ;-'50 (cauliflowers only), 52 (cabbage only), 57 (carrot only), 59 (cucumber only), 60,61,62,69 (green pepper/shimla mirch and green chillies), 70, 70 (lady finger/okra, gourd/marrow, bitter gourd, radish, arum/arvi, green coriander, tinda), 73,77, 103,114, 135 (ginger fresh only)'.
The SRO has been duly vetted by the Ministry of Law. Sources said that Pakistan is also considering expanding the positive list as business community is pressing the government to allow import of raw material from India, which is less expensive than other countries.
A numbers of items have been made part of the new trade policy, which is still dead, because Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has not yet given time to the Commerce Ministry for a presentation. Recently, Pakistan gave a written guarantee ('side letter') to Afghanistan that Islamabad would facilitate transit of Indian goods to Kabul through Wahgah, but did not give any specific timeline.
On the other hand, India has, yet again, blocked negotiations within the South Asian Free Trade Area (Safta) countries over the delayed reduction in sensitive list by 20 percent. A meeting, scheduled for October to discuss proposed reduction, has been postponed indefinitely due to India's uncertain participation. According to sources, agreement on services among Safta countries was signed in Bhutan, and further negotiations are being planned to finalise the schedule of concessions under the agreement. Pakistan has already notified non-tariff barriers among Safta countries, which are being examined by the concerned countries.