KARACHI: All Pakistan Fruit & Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association (PFVA) has urge the Commerce Division to initiate prompt necessary action for inviting the Chinese quarantine team for fulfillment of SPS formalities so that potential of China’s potato demand could be effectively tapped.
In a letter to Ministry of commerce, Chairman PFVA Abdul Malik said it was learnt from the well placed sources that recently on request of the Ministry of National Food Security & Research, it was agreed that China would urgently initiate the process of potato import from Pakistan after fulfilling the SPS requirements.
“China imports approximately one million metric tons of various varieties of potato from different countries. This news that China desires to import Pakistani potato has been hailed by all potato exporters of All Pakistan Fruit & Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association (PFVA) as it would have multiple pronounced positive impact,” the letter noted.
Pakistan has bumper crops of potato this year having substantial surplus quantity for export. Had this unique opportunity been not surfaced, the growers would have no other option but to bury the huge surplus quantity in ground sustaining huge financial losses. The growers would also seriously consider switching over to some other business or go for other paying crops less potato, creating serious shortage of this demanding vegetable and making it expensive for the common man.
Since huge quantity of surplus potato is available, the exporters would not face any issue for meeting demand from China, being a huge market, compared to supply of the same. This simply means export of potato would enhance substantially, which would be beneficial for the growers getting good price while the government would earn valuable foreign exchange desperately needed to reshape the economy.