TDAP trade team meets Russian officials

KARACHI: The twenty-member agro food trade delegation of Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) met high officials of the Russian Federation, a statement said on Tuesday.
The TDAP delegation, which left Pakistan on Sunday, had meetings with representatives of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Federal Customs Services of the Russian Federation, senior officials of Ministry of Economic Development and working Group of State Duma and Quarantine Department (Rosselkhoznadzor).
According to the TDAP statement, in the meeting with Deputy Head of Customs Cooperation Department Vitaly Peskov, the Pakistani delegation informed the Federal Customs Services that the duty on Pakistani Kinnow was arbitrarily increased from $650 to $1,050 per ton. Similarly, the issue of customs duty on textile items was also discussed.
The Russian side was informed that instead of invoice value, the Federal Customs Services considers weight of textile items for calculation of duties, which makes Pakistani products very expensive. The Federal Customs Services representatives pointed out that the value declared by the exporters of Egypt and Turkey was higher than the value declared by Pakistani exporters. On this, the Deputy Head was informed that the labour cost and production cost in Pakistan was cheaper as compared to Turkey and Egypt, so the Pakistani exporters declared less value.
The meeting with the representatives of the Republic of Bashkortostan was held at the Presidency of the Russian Federation. The Republic of Bashkortostan is one of the eight Muslim republics and the richest territory of Russia in mineral resources.
Bashkortostan has the largest petrochemical industries and 40 percent of the area of the republic consists of forests. The republic imports cotton, rice and the fruit.
TDAP Chief Executive SM Muneer briefed the hosts of the meeting regarding Pakistan, TDAP and the delegation and requested cooperation between the businessmen of Pakistan and the Republic of the Bashkortostan. The chief executive assured the hosts that in future a special delegation would be sent for the Republic of Bashkortostan and also invited businessmen from the Republic of Bashkotostan.
The delegation also visited WorldFood Moscow where the chief executive met with every exhibitor individually. The exhibitors appreciated the quality construction of the customised Pakistani stalls.
The meeting with senior officials of Ministry of Economic Development, working Group of State Duma and Quarantine Department (Rosselkhoznadzor) were also very positive and the delegation briefed the officials of the Russian Federation regarding Pakistan’s export potential, especially of meat.
The working group of State Duma and Quarantine Department (Rosselkhoznadzor) showed special interest in importing meat from Pakistan.
The delegation, as a result of meetings decided that the issue of higher tariffs on Pakistani exporters would be taken up at inter-ministerial meetings.
The TDAP would prepare a case for the protocol signing and would invite the officials of Quarantine Department (Rosselkhoznadzor) for the inspection of slaughter houses so that Pakistani meat could be exported to the Russian Federation.