KARACHI, Oct 11: The Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (Smeda) has supported the proposal of the Union of Small & Medium Enterprises (Unisame) that the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) be allowed to conduct pre-shipment inspection (PSI) of basmati rice.

Smeda CEO Shahab Khwaja in a message to Export Promotion Bureau vice-chairman Zafar Mahmood has reiterated its back to the proposal to facilitate the SMEs.

Unisame president Zulfikar Thaver has pointed out that the PSI is a job of an independent, neutral, impartial and experienced body and it could not be carried out by exporters themselves.

He has requested to Rice Commissioner Inayatullah Khan to promote the PSI by TCP on the basis of removing conflict of interest created by the Quality Review Committee (QRC) managed by rice exporters.