Custom trouble: Officials fail to explain clearance of substandard wheat

Commodity was imported from Ukraine and Moldova.

ISLAMABAD: Customs officials at the Karachi Port failed to explain to a sub-committee of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Food Security and Research as to why 82 containers were cleared by officials with substandard wheat from Ukraine and Moldova without the mandatory certificate by the Department of Plant Protection of the food ministry, said one of the committee members.

“The customs officials completely failed to convince us on how they cleared the 82 containers without certificates of the concerned department and how they reached the market,” said Muhammad Salman Khan Baloch.

He said that there was no satisfactory answer by the customs authorities, including the chief collector. Baloch added that the matter seemed to have materialised out of mutual connivance of officials and importers as this many substandard wheat containers could not have slipped past authorities without due process.

He said that the committee directed the chief collector to conduct an inquiry into the matter and present the report within 15 days. “We will look into the inquiry and recommend the government to take serious action against such corrupt practices,” he noted.

Baloch, who had earlier pointed out the issue in the National Assembly floor and the speaker referred it to the concerned committee, said that the sub-committee has directed the customs authorities to pinpoint all those officials who are involved in the activity.

Earlier, the issue was discussed by the standing committee, which constituted a sub-committee comprising chairman Malik Shakir Bashir Awan and two Karachi-based lawmakers, including Dr Fouzia and Baloch to personally visit the port to look into the issue and examine those 50 containers which could not be cleared by the customs officials after intervention by the food security ministry.

The customs officials had also cleared 1,182 containers from these countries after certified by the Department of Plant Protection.

The parliamentarians have said that this import of substandard wheat not only compromises food standards, but also damages the local farmers’ interests due to wheat surplus – of around 3 million tons – already plaguing the agriculture sector of the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 4^th, 2015.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.