May 17, 2006	Wednesday	Rabi-us-Sani 18, 1427

ISLAMABAD, May 16: Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan on Tuesday informed the upper house that the export of edible items increased by 42 per cent during the July-Nov period of the current fiscal year over the last year.

The minister stated this in a written reply to a question of Senator Ms Afia Zia who sought clarification from the ministry about the export promotion of edible items.

Mr Khan informed the Senate that major edible items exported included meat, fish, dairy product, vegetables, fruits, cereals, malt, fats and oils, prepared meat, sugars and confectionary, beverages and vinegar and salt.

He said exports of edible items were encouraged to participate in delegation and international exhibitions. “We are providing them all support with reference to market access issues such as registration of processing units, slaughter houses and farms with the importing countries authorities,” he added.

The government is also creating awareness on the upcoming challenges through seminars and workshops on international certifications like EUREPGAP, HACCP and ISO. “We are subsidising the certification by cost sharing to support the exporter,” he added.

CURRENCY NOTES: Minister of State for Finance Omar Ayub Khan on Tuesday informed the Senate that the total value of currency notes in circulation in the country as on March 31, 2006 was Rs785.09 billion.

The information was provided by the state minister to the Senate in a written reply to a question of Senator Dr Mohammad Saeed.

Giving further information, the minister told the upper house that the value of currency notes issued from July 1, 2005 to March 31, 2006 was Rs194.08 billion. Similarly, he said, the value of coins of Re1, Rs2 and Rs5 issued during the same period was Rs1.11 billion.

Giving a denomination-wise break-up, the state minister said the value of Rs1,000 currency notes issued from July 1, 2005 to March 31, 2006 was Rs114 billion, the value of Rs500 currency notes was Rs35.5 billion, the value of Rs100 currency notes was Rs30.2 billion, the value of Rs50 notes was Rs6.3 billion, the value of Rs20 notes was Rs3.12 billion and the value of Rs10 was Rs4.96 billion.