Held at airport: IIUI head seeks release of consignment

Imported dates were held due to documentation issues

ISLAMABAD: The head of International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) is ‘dateless’ and wants the Islamabad High Court to rectify the situation. His 350 kg consignment of Saudi dates was held at Islamabad airport due to problems with the paperwork.

IHC Justice Athar Minallah on Tuesday issued a notice to the Ministry of National Food, Security and Research after the IIUI Director Abdullah Al-Afifi filed a petition seeking release of the consignment at the earliest.

Al-Afifi said the consignment contains perishable items and has been detained without any justification.

He has made the Ministry of National Food, Security and Research secretary and Department of Plant Protection Entomologist Dr Huma respondents. Dr Huma is posted at Benazir Bhutto International Airport.

He said that customs authorities had no objection tom the shipment, but food ministry officials stopped the consignment and ordered them to produce a quarantine certificate issued by the Saudi Ministry of Agriculture.

In the petition, he says that the consignment was sent to the director of IIUI from Dakheel Abdullah Al-Faheed, owner of the farm Al-Zulfi at Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The attached certificate states that the importer is Ahmed Yousif Al Draiweesh, the president of IIUI.

Golra said that Al-Afifi sent a representative to receive the consignment of the dates but the entomologist stopped it and sought a quarantine certificate.

He said that the petitioner produced the quarantine certificate issued by the KSA Ministry of Agriculture in Arabic along with an English translation. He added that the Phytosanitary certificate bears a declaration that the contents meet quarantine requirements in the country and the undersigned undertake all liabilities in this regard.

However, he said, Dr Huma refused to accept the translated certificate and requested a bilingual Saudi quarantine certificate.

The counsel said that the petitioner has also fulfilled the goods declaration (GD-1) and other formalities but the entomologist detained the consignment without any lawful authority. Dr Huma wrote on an application of the petitioner that the shipment does not contain the relevant legal documents and cannot be released.

The petitioner has prayed that the order of the entomologist be set aside and directions be issued to accept the quarantine certificate and directions be issued to the respondents to release the shipment.

Following the hearing, Justice Minallah directed ministry officials to submit a reply within two days.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 16^th, 2016.