July 13, 2002	Saturday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 2, 1423

KARACHI, July 12: The small and medium rice exporters have lodged a protest with chairman Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) Abdul Rahim Janoo for sending incomplete proposal to Commerce Minister Abdul Razak Dawood.

All rice exporters are subjected to Pre-shipment Inspection (PSI) carried out by Quality Review Committee (QRC) managed by REAP and Quality Related Market Prices (QRMP) announced by Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).

Whereas the REAP has now proposed to Ministry of Commerce (MoC) to abolish the QRC system on Irri-6 rice only and QRMP on all rice.

The rice exporters are dismayed and fail to understand why REAP has given a proposal which gives no remedy to other rice exporters who are being made to suffer for the last so many years.

The minister for commerce had agreed to abolish the QRC system on all non-basmati rice that is Irri-6, 8, 9 and 386, and had also agreed to do away with double pre-shipment inspection on all rice on the proposal of REAP.

The rice exporters expected that REAP would follow and pursue and obtain relief for the rice exporters under the demands accepted by the MoC and save the rice exporters the trouble of getting their cargo inspected again by QRC when already inspected by the buyers nominated company but Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan omitted the very essence of the demands and submitted a proposal which is incomplete and unsatisfactory.