KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday issued notices to secretary Ministry of National Food Security and Research, director general of the Department of Plant Protection (DPP) and the deputy attorney general, directing them to file their respective comments on a petition filed by M/s Saritow Spinning Mills (Private) Limited over phytosanitary certificate on consignment of raw cotton. A division bench, headed by Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, heard the petition.
Earlier, the petitioner’s counsel stated that petitioner imported 105MT raw cotton at $144,670 on March 10, 2016 from Singapore. However, the respondents stopped the said consignment and on an application, examined the said goods and certified that goods are free from injurious diseases on April 18, 2016.
According to the petitioner, the phytosanitary certificate already issued by the government of India confirmed that the goods are free from pesticides, soil and diseases. But the respondents are demanding certificate from Singapore which is illegal.
