Animal casing exports to Japan likely to revive

LAHORE: Pakistan’s prospects for exporting animal casings to Japan have brightened with a substantial improvement in the efficiency and product quality of the local industry, Japanese government officials said on Monday.

“It is hoped that animal casings export to Japan will increase with the passage of time,” Atsushi Kajwara and Ken Murata from the ministry of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries said during a visit to a local processing unit.

Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) in a statement said the the tours were aimed at bringing both the counterparts together to give exports an impetus. The TDAP said collaboration with Pakistan’s commercial counselor to Japan arranged the visit of the Japanese inspectors with an objective to help the animal casings processors improve their operations and products.

The authority said the Japanese experts appreciated the quality of work being carried out in these units from raw material to the final product. The authority said the experts toured two factories namely United Casings and CoCo Traders to examine their processing standards.

The TDAP said it has also engaged the Quarantine Department to ensure the product standardisation and observance of the agreement between both countries. Pakistan’s animal casing exports to Japan are under a moratorium since September 2017.

After the implementation of new rules, the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan took this initiative on its own as otherwise it was the subject of Quarantine Department to take such measures as may lift ban on animal casing exports to in Japan.

The representatives of both the units thanked the TDAP for organising the visit and hoped the country’s exports would grow with the joint efforts of authorities and private sector. With a world trade of over $1 billion, Pakistan’s animal casing exports to European market alone were Rs5 billion a year ago. Being a fast growing sector, this sector witnessed an average annual growth rate of around 40 percent during 2009–2011.