Clean business: Transparency in rice exports demanded

KARACHI: The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (Unisame) has asked the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) to take notice of nepotism in the quota system of rice in the Sri Lankan Free Trade Agreement (FTA). According to Unisame, this has deprived the SME exporters of their right to obtain a share in the annual quota of 6,000 tons. The body urged the TDAP chief executive officer to ensure transparency. Unisame President Zulfikar Thaver said the union has received a complaint and pointed out that the requirement is that the cargo has to be onboard to qualify for the quota on a first-come-first-serve basis, but unfortunately this system has not been observed. The Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) and TDAP had evolved a joint policy that the quota will be issued only on presenting the bill.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th, 2014.

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