KARACHI, Dec 13: The quota crisis arising out of the US embargo on fast running categories was finally resolved on the intervention of Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan.
Exporters have been blaming the Export Promotion Bureau for keeping them in dark about quota utilization that ultimately resulted in embargo by the US customs in the middle of last month in most of the fast running categories.
The commerce minister during his visit to Karachi invited the leaders of export bodies of value-added textile goods on Sunday to Islamabad to sort out the issue of quotas which was causing huge losses to the exporters.
During the meeting, it was resolved that those exporters who would not get quota visas for exporting their cargo within the quota period ending on December 31, 2004 would be allowed to airlift their cargo immediately thereafter.
It was agreed that the exporters would be allowed to lift their cargo from January 1 to 21, 2005, and the air freight charges would be reimbursed by the government to them.
Similarly, those exporters who send their consignments by sea but with the consensus of their buyers after the expiry of quota year will get a 50-per cent reimbursement on the basis of air freight charges. The freight charges will be calculated at the rates charged by PIA for exporters using ships and also for those using airlines other than PIA.
The exporters have been extremely angry and perturbed over the performance of the EPB which has failed to work out the quota utilization. "For years, the EPB has not been reconciling the utilization and this remained under cover owing to carry-forward clauses of bilateral agreements with importing countries," the claim.
On the insistence of the US customs, the EPB a couple of years ago spent huge money on computers - ELVIS - to monitor the quota utilization, but the system was not properly used and with the closing of quota system the exporters have to suffer heavily.
"In my view the EPB has become a redundant organization and needs to be totally revamped to introduce work culture and sense of responsibility to discharge its national obligations," a leading exporter asserted.
He said the business community had never been happy with its performance and on the contrary millions of rupees collected from the exporters on account of the Export Development Fund (EDF) were wasted by the bureau for years but no accounts or audit were made available to the exporters.
The Sunday meeting was attended by Aslam Ahmed Karsaz of the Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers Association (PHMA), Anis Marfani of the Pakistan Sweaters Exporters Association (Pak sea) and some leaders from Lahore, including Adil Butt.
Mr Marfani said that about 885,000 dozens of category 338 and 124,000 dozens of category 347 would be left behind, which would be shipped after the expiry of quota year ending on December 31, 2004. He said the minister was kind enough to allow swap in these categories against others and this would help exporters adjust their shipments.
