KARACHI, May 11: President Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (Unisame) Zulfikar Thaver said on Friday sudden ban on export of pulses will result in cancellation of many export contracts entered by small and medium size exporters and will also damage their standing in the world market.

In a statement the Unisame chief said that the government’s decision to impose ban on export of pulses had caused a lot of hardship to small exporters, who have already entered into export contracts.

He said exporters were exporting pulses on paying 35 per cent duty and were earning foreign exchange for the country after making value-addition on export packaging. They are now faced with cancellation of contracts, which are mostly meant for the Gulf and the Middle East countries.

He said Pakistani gram pulse had earned a good name due to its quality and this year there was a bumper crop with a sizeable export surplus. Unisame fails to understand the logic behind sudden ban on export of pulses, which reflects lack of consistency in government policies resulting in huge losses to the exporters.

The Unisame president urged the government to take into consideration the export commitments made with the foreign buyers and allow export of confirmed contracts in the best interest of the export trade.