Substandard wheat from Moldova, Ukraine: National Assembly panel for streamlining procedure for import specifications

A parliamentary panel constituted to examine the whole process of import of substandard wheat from Moldova and Ukraine recommended that the Ministry of National Food Security & Research (MNFS&R) and the Ministry of Commerce with their mutual consultation should streamline procedure for import specifications of wheat stipulated in SRO-2008 and revise the roles and responsibilities of concerned organisations.
A sub-committee of the standing committee on National Food Security and Research was tasked to examine the whole process of substandard wheat imported from Moldova, Ukraine from July 1, 2014 to March 24, 2015 and its clearance by the custom authorities without acquiring the Plant Protection Release Order (PPRO) and submitted its final report to the committee whereas a copy of the report is available with Business Recorder and the committee approved it.
According the report the Department of Plant Protection (DPP) must regulate the import and export of plant and plant material strictly under quarantine Act 1976 and shall not allow any infested/infected and sub-standard agro commodities in the country under any circumstances. The committee also held responsible M/s Al-Noor Dall and Flour Mills and Thara International for spread of Karnal bunt, Striga Sumt and quarantine pests diseases in the country and recommended to black list both the wheat importing firms with sufficient fine for import of any agro commodities in the country in future.
According to the report 61 containers of wheat imported by M/S Al-Noor Dall and Flour Mills Hyderabad and 21 containers by M/s Thara International for Moldova (Ukraine) arrived at Port Qasim, Karachi, without PPRO of DPP. Out of 1174 container of wheat imported from Ukraine and Moldova 82 were released without PPRO by the custom and 50 were confiscated while the remaining were released after treatment/fumigation by the DPP.
As per the requirement of Pakistan Plant Quarantine Act, 1976, SRO-2008 for import of wheat was allowed after ensuring Pre-Shipment Inspection Report (PSI) conducted at port of loading by authorised PSI agencies. The mandatory testing to check the risk of Karnal bunt, striga smut and other quarantine pests diseases in the country were essentially required.
The committee which is headed by Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Malik Shakir Bashir Awan also recommended that MNFS&R should revive the Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA) and Wheat Review Committee (WRC) for better co-ordination with regard to import wheat and its products. The joint meeting of FCA and WRC may be convened properly and the concerned authorities of provinces may also be included to resolve the wheat issues in future.
The report further said that the wheat fitness for human consumption should be made mandatory before release of any consignment and the MNFS&R and Ministry of Commerce should take necessary measures to adopt procedure for all agro-bases import. The committee recommended that the laboratory facilities may be enhanced in the FQSRI lab Karachi to indicate all the pests and diseases in the wheat with required machinery and staff till the establishment of Food Safety Authority.
The committee asked Ministry of Commerce to initiate enquiry proceedings against those Pre Shipment Inspection (PSI) agencies who were responsible to issue clearance certificates for sub standard wheat at port of loading. The DPP should submit a comprehensive complaint with evidence to Ministry of Commerce for taking action against PSI agencies at the earliest.
The report further asked Pakistan customs to comply with the quarantine and Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) regulation in cases of import of wheat/food items and avoid release of such items through green channel of the Web Based On Customs (WeBOC) system. Pakistan Customs may not allow any commodity of plant origin without PPRO to protect human health.
It further said that MNFS&R may frame legislation for not importing wheat and agro based comities when surplus quantity of these items already exist in our storage. The regulatory duty if required may be imposed well before the import of food items.
The committee asked Dr Shakeel Ahmed Federal Wheat Commissioner to explain that on which ground wheat was imported when a bumper crop of 25.3 million tons in 2013-14 was available in the country. According to the report the wheat commissioner informed the committee that prior to 18th amendment the date was collected by Ministry Wheat Cell head by joint secretary but after devolution the connection between the federal and provincial government on the policy issue had been completely disrupted. The sub-committee consists of MNA Rao Muhammad Ajmal Khan, Faqir Sher Muhammad Bilalani, Muhammad Salman Khan Baloch and Dr Fauzia Hameed.