LAHORE – Vegetable exporters have not received a great deal of relief from the federal government, as Islamabad has only allowed the export of onion with contracts settled before January 4. A six-member delegation of vegetable exporters and traders has left for Islamabad to voice their demands.
Lahore Anjumane-e-Arthian (a vegetable traders’ body) President Chaudhry Muhammad Ejaz told Pakistan Today that the federal government had allowed the export of onions, which had been contracted before January 4 with payments being received. He said that no more than five to 10 trucks could be exported under the stipulated criterion as vegetable export to India through land route was being conducted on barter basis.
He pointed out that it was a mutual agreement between traders of both neighbouring countries. Indian traders were sending tomato and Pakistan was exporting onion in return. He said the sudden embargo on onion export through land route had created multiple problems for traders and exporters on the both sides.
Chaudhry Ejaz stressed that Indian exporters had refused to honour the tomato orders placed by Pakistani importers. He said that huge sums of money had been committed by Pakistani exporters had become tied up, but the federal government was unable to grasp the gravity of the situation. He revealed that a six-member delegation of vegetable exporters and traders, including Hafiz Maqsood, Shahbaz Bhatti, Chaudhry Nazir, Chaudhry Bilal and Ali Saeed, was going to approach the federal secretary commerce to plead their case.
Answering a question, Chaudhry Ejaz said vegetable exporters were asking Islamabad to only allow the export already processed onion orders. He said that some 300 trucks loaded with onions were stuck at Wagha Border waiting for allowance of export, while some exporters had moved their trucks to sell in local market as the quality and hence the quality of the commodity was depreciating.
Speaking to Pakistan Today, Lahore Anjumane-e-Arthian Vice President Shahbaz Bhatti said the government made a sudden change in the onion export policy, which resulted in the money of traders and exporters. He said Islamabad should give some time to the vegetable exporters and traders before making any change in onion export policy. He underlined that onion export from other ports in the country was still allowed and large quantities were being exported to Colombo, Dubai, Malaysia, Indonesia and Mumbai.
In addition, onion export was continued from Turkhaum to Kabul, Chaman to Kandhar and Zahidan to Iran, he added and alleged that the federal government was only looking after the interests of businessmen from Sindh. It is interested to note here that even after the imposition of the ban on onion exports through land route; no major change is witnessed in the domestic prices of onion. The commodity is still sold at between Rs 40-45 per kilogram in the local market.
However, economic and agriculture experts believe that if the government wanted to restrict onion exports from the country, it should announce minimum export price (MEP) for the commodity. Experts argue that through the imposition of MEP, Pakistani produce could not only secure a better price but prices of agricultural products in the local market could also be stablised.
