Food regulatory body demanded

KARACHI: Department of Plant Protection has advised the business and industrial community of Karachi to urge the government for the establishment of a food safety regulatory authority.
Director General Dr. Mubarak Ahmed, while exchanging views in a meeting at the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), said a bill for setting up federal food safety regulatory authority was drafted a long time ago but no progress was made in this regard.
Therefore, the business community should raise its voice for setting up a food regulator that would enhance Pakistan’s market access to international markets through export of quality agriculture products. “Pakistan has the highest number of patients suffering from diabetes and cancer, mainly due to a lack of food control,” he added.
President KCCI Iftikhar Ahmed Vohra, Vice President KCCI Agha Shahab Ahmed Khan, Former Presidents KCCI Haroon Agar and Majyd Aziz along with KCCI Managing Committee members and a number of traders dealing in commodities were present at the meeting.
During the meeting, a special committee comprising Vice President KCCI and former presidents of KCCI Haroon Agar and Anis Majeed was formed to examine the issues being faced by the traders in dealing with the department of plant protection and forward the same to the director general in order to get them resolved at the earliest in order to save the traders from suffering losses. “Imports and exports around the world are backed up by Research and Development (R&D), but unfortunately no R&D is taking place in case of Pakistan’s imports and exports, which is a serious issue and requires attention,” the director general said.
Defending the operations of the department of plant protection, he said, the department is currently going through transition and the operation of the department is being streamlined in an effort to deal with deficiencies. “There are good and bad players in the market, but we will never allow the bad players to play with the lives of the masses by importing substandard and unhygienic commodities into Pakistan,” he added.
“Clearing agents are also responsible for the delays in clearance of consignments, as they demand charges for the department,” he said, “these clearing agents are deceiving the traders as the department never takes any charges for its services.”
Commenting on exports of fruits and vegetables to the EU, Dr. Mubarak said the department took the issue of high rate of interceptions very seriously and ensured high quality exports to the EU market. Thus, the interceptions were reduced to zero in 2014 and only three were reported in 2015, he said. Earlier, the EU had warned to ban mango exports from Pakistan,” Ahmed said.
“Within a short span of just one year, the number of hot water treatment plants has increased to 29 treatment plants, of which eight are situated in Karachi. “It has become a very lucrative business, which helped in doubling the mango exports to Europe,” he said.