Karachi, April 25, 2022 (PPI-OT):The Small to medium sized (SME) farmers have been continuously requesting the lifting of ban on export of brown sugar and jaggery (Gurr) as they were exporting and also selling domestically before but due to shortage of refined sugar the ECC of the cabinet placed a ban on white sugar and brown sugar and jaggery being an allied products also came under the ban unintentionally and mistakenly and needs to be lifted without loss of time.
President UNISAME Zulfikar Thaver said this was indeed a grave and serious mistake and subsequently the federal Board of Revenue (FBR), the Ministry of Industries and Production (MoI and P) and Ministry of Commerce (MINCOM) continued correspondence but without decision in the matter unfortunately.
Thaver said the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) at the behest of UNISAME convened a meeting of SME farmers, processors and exporters and after examining the issue recommended not only the lifting of ban on export of brown sugar and Gurr but also upgrading the jaggery industry as it is a source of income generation for the underprivileged sector.
It is pertinent to mention that China and India are both exporting to global destinations and Pakistan is losing export orders from various countries due to this ban which is admittedly unintentional as per convened meeting agenda letter 2nd February 2022 of Dr Kausar Zaidi Director General (DG) Agro Mincom in which he has also requested for early finalization of this long outstanding issue.
UNISAME Council has invited the kind attention of Dr Kausar Zaidi DG Agro Mincom that Jaggery is produced in all the provinces and there is self-sufficiency of white sugar in the country and the production and export of brown sugar and Gurr will not affect the white refined sugar industry and the ban on export of both these items namely brown sugar and gurr must be lifted forthwith. The UNISAME Council has also stated in its request that the Pakistan Standard Quality Control Authority has adopted standards for Jaggery as a sweetener and a benchmark has been determined for domestic and international standards.
For more information, contact:
Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME)
75/1 3rd Commercial Street, Phase IV, D.H.A.,
Karachi, Pakistan
Tel: +92-21-35884225-6
Fax: +92-21-35380642
Cell: +92-300-8245307, +92-321-8245307
Email: unisame@gmail.com
Website: http://www.unisame.org/