SME EXPORTERS OF SPICES AGGRIEVED BY HIGH PRICES OF CHILIES

The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) invited te attention of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) to the non affordable prices of chilies which has made export of spices noncompetitive.
President UNISAME Zulfikar Thaver said the middlemen operating in Kunri and Umerkot areas of Sindh control the supply of the commodity to the SME processors of spices and indulge in hoarding, profiteering and black marketing. It is reported that Chilli is also smuggled making it non available to the SME units.
Chilli is an important commodity used in every household kitchen and the manufacturing units of spices for domestic consumption or exports are handicapped without chilli as it is an essential ingredient in all ground spices. Secondly he said since the country is manufacturing the best sauces of different kinds as per of international standards and also exporting to advanced countries of the world, the import duty on sauces must be increased in the forthcoming budget to discourage imports and to encourage our domestic industry which has achieved high bench mark.
Munaf Bawany member UNISAME council and committee member of Pakistan Food Products Processors and Manufacturers Association (PFPP&MA) said the SME spices exporters are badly affected due to the malpractices of the middlemen and are losing business because of the high prices of the chillies under their control.
Mukesh Kumar provincial chief of SMEDA Sindh has convened a meeting of spices exporters on 8th June 2020 at the behest of UNISAME and PFPP&MA to examine the situation in its true perspectives. However in his opinion the prices of chilies will come down when the new crop comes shortly. The demand and supply position is likely to improve considerably.
It is pertinent to note that SMEDA played an important role in the set up and management of the dehydration plant of chilies at Kunri Sindh. The dandicut red chilies of Kunri are world famous and considered of geographical indication (GI) in the list of our GI items like basmati rice, Sargodha Kinnos, Mirpurkhas mangoes, Kasuri methi and Multani halwa. UNISAME and PFPP&MA are therefore very keen that our exports of spices and particularly red dandicut chilies must not be disturbed by any cartel or mafia.

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