Dateless days: IHC orders ‘appropriate action’ on fruit petition

IIUI head’s consignment of dates was held due to paperwork issues.

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday directed that “appropriate action” be taken in connection with a 350kg consignment of Saudi dates, ordered by the head of International Islamic University (IIUI), held at Benazir Bhutto International Airport due to problems with the paperwork.

In the order, Justice Athar Minallah said, “The court expects that the respondents shall take appropriate action, in compliance with the Plant Quarantine Act.”

The directions came in response to a request from quarantine department in-charge Shahid Abdullah, who sought time from the court to seek instructions from the competent authority to resolve the issue.

The court, while accepting the request, relisted the case for June 20.

IIUI Director Abdullah Al-Afifi had sought the IHC’s intervention after the consignment, imported from Saudi Arabia, was held at the airport because the required Saudi documents were in Arabic rather than bilingual — English and Arabic. The importer had instead attached a translation of the Arabic document.

Justice Minallah had issued notice to the Ministry of National Food, Security and Research, after Al-Afifi filed a petition seeking release of the consignment at the earliest.

Al-Afifi claims that the consignment contains perishable items and was detained without any justification.

He maintained, through his counsel Rehanuddin Khan Golra, that the customs authorities had no objection to the shipment, but food ministry officials stopped the consignment and ordered that a quarantine certificate issued by the Saudi Ministry of Agriculture be produced.

Golra said the petitioner produced a quarantine certificate issued written in Arabic and translated into English. He added that the phytosanitary certificate bears a declaration that the contents of the certificate are according to the quarantine requirements of Pakistan.

However, a food ministry official demanded the production of a bilingual quarantine certificate issued by the Saudi ministry.

Entomologist Dr Huma of the food ministry wrote on the application of the petitioner that the shipment does not contain any of the required legal documents and cannot be released.

The petitioner has prayed that the doctor’s order be set aside and that directions to accept the quarantine certificate and release the shipment be issued.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 18^th, 2016.