KARACHI, Feb 3: The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (Unisame) has appealed to the government to disallow export of brown and raw rice for ensuring its availability to local processors and exporters for value-addition.

In a statement issued here on Saturday, Unisame president Zulfikar Thaver said that prices of different varieties of rice had gone up by almost 35 per cent during the last two months making it impossible for small and medium-sized exporters to meet their foreign sales commitments.

Mr Thaver said that an SOS had also been sent to Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar seeking immediate ban on export of all varieties of raw and brown rice. Why should we allow export of brown and raw rice to our competitors for value-addition to earn more money at our cost,” he added.

He asked the commerce minister not to allow export of rice on delivery against acceptance (D/A) basis as rice was a cash crop. “The government should not also give export refinance on rice as this encourages hoarding of the produce and creates artificial shortage to push price high”.