The SME Farmers Association (SMEFA) on behalf of SME farmers, exporters and processors have urged the Ministry Of Commerce  (MINCOM) and the Ministry of Planning and Special Initiatives to lift the ban on exports of KhashKhash White Food Grade, Jaggery (GURR) and Medicinal  And Industrial Hemp (BHANG) to enable SMEs to generate income and uplift their standard of living.

The sector has also urged Prof Ahsan Iqbal the federal minister for planning and special initiatives to take up the pending matter which will play an important role in poverty alleviation and uplift of the under privileged sector as envisaged in his better Pakistan and 25 years vision.

In this connection the SMEs through their Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) approached the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA), the Director General Agro at the Mincom, the federal secretary commerce, the member customs at the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). The Pakistan Standard Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) has adopted standard for KhashKhash and Gurr as food and issued acceptable benchmark for international trade.

Zulfikar Thaver president of UNISAME said that the union is thankful to SMEDA and PSQCA for supporting their demand to lift ban on exports of Khashkhash and Gurr and the Lahore High Court (LHC) for refraining provincial and federal governments from creating impediments in the manufacturing of Gurr and declaring such acts as unconstitutional.

Thaver lamented that despite the recommendations of SMEDA and the Ministry of  Industries and Production   (MoI&P) the policy makers remained undecided. However the Union expected the new coalition government to act promptly and lift the ban on exports of Khashkhash and Gurr forthwith.

Meantime the sector  has also approached the World Food Program, the World Food Organization and the World Health Organization to remove the impediments to allow the government of Pakistan to grow White Food grade Poppy Seeds called KhashKhash and to process it and export it to global destination just like it has allowed Turkey without any discrimination.

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Posted in: Press Releases