Basmati definition: UNISAME calls for protection

UNISAME has urged the PSQCA to define basmati rice to enable the Quality Review Committee (QRC) to protect commodity.

KARACHI: The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) has urged the Pakistan Standard Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) to define basmati rice to enable the Quality Review Committee (QRC) to protect the commodity. UNISAME President Zulfikar Thaver drew PSQCA’s attention to the geographical indications (GI) pronounced by the international forum. “We deeply regret the weak representation of the issue of GI of basmati rice at the international forum and we are calling for an issuance of show cause notice to the officers,” said Thaver. He urged the Minister of State for Commerce Khurram Dastagir to summon the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), PSQCA, QRC, REAP and Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) to decide the future course of action. He said the majority of basmati rice exporters are SMEs who have been badly affected by the negligence of the officers and are seeking freedom to work without any hindrance from QRC.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4^th, 2014.

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