July 15, 2006	Saturday	Jumadi-ul-Sani 18, 1427

ISLAMABAD, July 14: Rice exporters have expressed their displeasure over the lukewarm response of the government to the handling of the super Basmati issue with India, saying the delay in action will deprive the country of its hybrid variety developed 15 years ago.

"The commerce ministry has not even issued a statement to condemn the Indian commerce ministry move for officially allowing Pakistani super Basmati variety for export. Bureaucrats in Islamabad are just exchanging files from one ministry to another during the last 51 days," a rice exporter on condition of anonymity told Dawn on Friday.

The exporter said whatever strategy was adopted for taking up the issue was still on commerce ministry files and no action had so far been taken. He said the same ministry responded so quickly by holding a meeting to further add some items in the tradable list with India to be considered not only for trade but also for tariff reduction, following Indian Commerce Minister Kamal Nath’s press statement to challenge Pakistan’s decision of not granting the MFN status under Safta in Saarc Secretariat.

He said then why the ministry was not proactive in the super Basmati issue, as it would also reduce market access for Pakistani rice exports. This year, among other products, rice export crossed the $1 billion mark for the first time in Pakistan’s history.

Another big issue, which delayed the process of rice, was the internal differences among various stakeholders of rice. The ministry has to resolve these differences at the earliest in the interest of the country rather than to support either group.

Ironically, the commerce ministry has given the authority of pre-shipment inspection (PSI) to the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan, which was of the major irritants in smooth flow of export, and the association reportedly used it for personal liking or disliking.

“While we fight amongst ourselves due to petty motives, the Indians are having an easy time in stealing our national heritage. Our government is showing extreme weakness in defending what is rightfully ours and seems afraid of the Indians and needs legal crutches before they show any action if at all to defend our heritage," another rice exporter said.

“The government should call the Indian high commissioner and hand over a protest and demarche on their illegal notification and give India a notice at the dispute settlement body of the WTO because they have breached the Paris Convention and especially the clauses relating to ‘unfair competition’,” he added.

A range of other actions were also proposed to the government, including filing in Indian courts a suit for obtaining a restraining order through a private sector affected party while the government will consider funding the operation.

A source told Dawn that all the rice stakeholders had given in black and white a long list of possible action to be taken against the Indian government, which was pending with the ministry of commerce. “This includes activating our foreign trade officers, especially in destination markets for Basmati by informing them of the theft being attempted by India and our opposition to it; early finalisation of our GI Law and the government filing of Geographical Indications protection for Basmati,” he added.

It was also proposed to the ministry of food and agriculture to legally define Basmati at the ministry level with a suitable notification that must fully endorse Pakistan’s documented history of Basmati approvals since 1933, 1947 till present date. No new innovations to suit this or that group should be done.