Summary UNISAME has urged the government to remove restrictions on export of basmati rice.
KARACHI: The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) has demanded removal of restriction on the export of rice to enable the exporters compete with India.
In an statement issued from his office on Sunday president UNISAME Zulfiqar Thaver said different analysis are being given for the sharp decline in the export of basmati rice but without any remedy whereas the answer lies in giving the basmati rice exporters a free hand to export basmati rice like their Indian competitors .
He said most of the value addition is done by the SME exporters and whilst the big shippers are involved in dispatching ship loads of non basmati rice the SMEs are processing, polishing and grading the basmati rice.
India is exporting 1121 and 386 as basmati rice whereas the SME basmati rice exporters are scrutinized for exporting basmati rice with field mixtures which are a natural phenomenon of farm produce, he said.
Zulfiqar revealed that the real aromatic basmati 385 variety is very scarce and hardly grown and mostly the rice varieties of basmati available and grown are super basmati and D 98 variety which is available for export.
He said the exporters should be given a free hand to export their own brands of basmati rice and take full responsibility for its quality and if required QRC can act as a complaint cell under the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP).
