LAHORE: Vegetables‘ import from India to Pakistan via Wahaga Border has come to a standstill due to the Plant Protection Department’s unwarranted rejection of vegetables, including tomatoes , potatoes and other such food stuffs in the name of protection of plants in the country, sources told Customs Today.
According to sources, the vegetable import from India to Pakistan always played an important role in bringing in stability in vegetables’ prices in Pakistan. However, they added that the vegetables’ prices are likely to shoot up during Ramzan because of the uncalled barriers imposed by the Pakistani Plant Protection Department on the import of vegetables from India.
Sources in Customs Department said that Plant Protection Department did not issue NOCs for clearance merely on the basis that the vegetables were wet in mud and not properly washed.
Such the huge quantity of vegetables requires installation of heavy machinery to separate them from the harmless mud. In this process the cost of the vegetables imported from India to Pakistan will certainly increase and consequently it will not be affordable for common man in the country, the sources stated.
It is pertinent to mention here that Indian Principal Commissioner Sunil Kumar Sahani took up the issue with the Pakistani customs authorities during 18th Customs Liaison Border Committee (CLBC).
The Indian Customs Principal Commissioner informed the Pakistani customs authorities that vegetables are also examined in Indian Plant Protection Department and only those vegetables are cleared that are unaffected to human health.
He urged the Pakistan Customs authorities to take up the issue with the authorities concerned, sources disclosed
