KARACHI: All Pakistan Fruit & Vegetable Exporters, Importers & Merchants Association (PFVA) Saturday said that sudden, hasty decisions are putting serious implications on the country's exports.
According to a letter sent to Ministry of National Food Security & Research (MNFSR), PFVA said there is needs to consult with all stakeholders before taking any decision relate to exports sector as the measurers will have financial impact and may hurt the credibility of exporters.
Sometime extraordinary efforts are required to regain the international markets if a sudden decision is taken by the ministry without taking these important factors into account.
Waheed Ahmed, former Patron in chief PFVA raised issues relating to export of onion saying that the export of onion from Pakistan to various international destinations was going on smoothly for last many weeks but all of a sudden the Department of Plant Protection (DPP) declined to issue Phyto-certificates for the export containers of onion. This was a verbal intimation by the DPP without any formal notification by the MNFSR, he added.
He said such hasty decisions taken without even consultation with the stakeholder may result in huge financial losses to the perishable nature of the export consignment. In addition, the credibility of exporters is jeopardized from importers' perspective, particularly in the absence of any official notification.
"Recapturing of such international markets will involve extraordinary efforts in terms of time and money as confidence and trust in export business is an essence of this business and restoring both is a uphill task," he maintained.
Waheed said exporters of this specific sector are playing a vital role in the betterment of the country's weak economy and such hasty decisions cast very demoralizing impact on them.
"We would like to submit humbly that the associations must be involved while any such hasty decisions are made and given at least a cushion period of 4-6 days before implementing such decisions so that exporters could avert huge financial losses and the country's professional image does not suffer on the international front," the letter added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020