January 23, 2002	Wednesday	Ziqa'ad 8, 1422

ISLAMABAD, Jan 22: Pakistan will seek withdrawal of restrictions on export of its milk products to European Countries (EU), a senior official told Dawn on Tuesday.

The Ministry of Food and Agriculture and Livestock (Minfal) will send a formal proposal to EU headquarter located at Brussels later this month for consideration.

The Minfal will come up with all the requirements necessary for abolishing of restriction/ban on milk related products to European Countries, which are pointed out in EC directive 92/46/EC, the official added.

The official, however, said that it was hoped that the EU would accept the Islamabad’s request.

The official said that the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) has also sent a letter to all Pakistani trade ministers, commercial counsellors in all countries to take up similar restriction/ban on Pakistani products with the respective host countries.

They have been asked to seek clarification on restriction/ban placed on Pakistani exportable items and to find out what would be the way to resolve it, the official said.

The commerce ministry has initiated the drive to trace out those countries, where ban/restriction are placed on Pakistani livestock and related products, following an attempt of a Pakistani exporters to exports milk products to one of the European countries.

To his surprise, the exporter was informed by the respective country port authorities that Pakistani milk products were not allowed into EU.

Once we got the list of banned/restricted items, he said, the government would formally initiate negotiations with those countries for its withdrawal.

Pakistan’s exports are concentrated on a few items/ groups namely-cotton, fish, leather, rice, synthetic textiles, wool & carpets and sports goods. These seven categories of exports on average accounted for around 88 per cent of the total exports in the decade of the 1990s.