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KARACHI, Feb 1: Despite the fact that the issue of the quality of imported wheat has been raised many times and the government’s own labs have found samples failing to meet the country’s food standards, no action has been taken by the government to effectively address the issue, while the authorities plan to float another import tender for expensive American soft white wheat soon, Dawn has learnt.
An investigation into the import of 1.7 million tons last year shows that the entire process was marred with malpractices from the beginning and the government incurred losses of billions of rupees. Not only was the wheat bought at much higher rates than the international market prices, serious compromises were also made on the issue of quality. Action against the suppliers causing the losses is still awaited.
According to experts, the main characteristics that determine the price of wheat are protein, wet gluten, moisture and foreign matter. A minimum of 24 to 25 per cent wet gluten and 10 per cent protein levels are required for making flatbread.
Pakistani wheat contains wet gluten levels higher than 28 per cent and is considered to be one of the best for roti-making throughout the world. The wheat with lower gluten levels can only be utilized for making chappati, if it is blended with the local wheat to make reasonable dough.
Also, it is important to know that the difference between the feed-grade wheat (meant for livestock) and milling wheat (for human consumption) is only that of wet gluten levels. Though there are no adverse affects of lower wet gluten levels, importing and selling such a quality of wheat compromises the interests of the common man in Pakistan, where wheat is a staple.
According to sources, the government of Pakistan, presumably with the objective to accommodate more suppliers and considering that wheat with lower gluten levels shall be utilised by mixing it with indigenous wheat, deviated from its own specifications and lowered them by imposing discount rates in the tender. For instance, the standard specification for wet gluten was laid as 27pc. However, wheat with up to 21pc gluten level was considered to be acceptable.
The reason for placing low gluten level was reportedly to accommodate the US soft white wheat that contains lower levels of gluten.
Similar standards were fixed with other quality parameters, that are, moisture, damaged grain etc. Wheat with less than 10pc protein level and over 1pc foreign matter was considered to be rejected.
TCP ‘ignorance’
As a result of the ‘ignorance’ of the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (the sole organisation operating under the ministry of commerce responsible for import of commodities) and manipulation by importers, these quality standards were not met and resultantly, there was a huge public outcry.
A number of importers, on condition of anonymity, told Dawn that last year, the production of feed-grade wheat exceeded the milling wheat production particularly in Russia and its former states. Many Pakistani importers practically either imported feed-grade wheat or a mixture of milling and feed-grade wheat by manipulation through pre-shipment inspectors.
According to TCP sources, almost the entire cargo was not as per the standard specification and thus liable to price reduction. The TCP, however, didn’t deduct a single penny and made full payments to importers. Sources in the TCP say that a number of shipments with feed-grade wheat were also released with full payment.
For the import of wheat, the TCP initially relied on pre-shipment inspection for which it didn’t allegedly seek the services of internationally reputed agencies or deviated from the prescribed testing procedure. Later, when it opted for post-shipment analysis on the directives of Minfal (Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock), it ignored the reports of the Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) that rejected over a dozen shipments on the grounds of having poor standards.
Huge mismanagement
Lab test reports submitted to the TCP show that all the rejected shipments, which in some cases contained gluten levels of up to 19pc or even less and were below the acceptable specification, were released and sent to the provinces. Similarly, it was learnt that the provinces didn’t receive wheat as per the quantity dispatched from Karachi port and there was huge mismanagement in wheat distribution, costing the government over Rs3 billion.
Additional payments were made to the TCP on account of increased discharge rate, losses due to moisture loss, engagement of tally operators, increase in transportation rates and payment of diversion charges.
According to experts, grain, during transportation by sea, cannot lose moisture due to high humidity. Moreover, the ship-holds are sealed to prevent grain from losing any moisture. The only time grain is exposed to ambient conditions is at the time of discharge where, as a result of high atmospheric humidity, it can absorb moisture, but won’t lose it.
Pointing out the flaws in the government’s strategy on wheat import, an expert said: “First, the government buys expensive substandard wheat. Then it gives a free hand to millers to mix the imported variety with the indigenous wheat. This provides an opportunity to many to make money, but consumers’ interests are compromised in the absence of any checks.”
Further, he said, the idea of buying red and white wheat separately is not understandable. “Russian red wheat is cheaper and closer to our standards than the costly American soft white wheat. But, for some reasons, the government has opted again to buy US wheat.”
According to TCP sources, despite public outcry over the issue last year, the government’s response has been mute. “Only one supplier has been blacklisted so far, who still operates under a different name.”
‘Nobody fell sick’
TCP chairman Mohammad Saeed simply refused to admit that there was anything wrong with the quality of wheat last year and said: “There was no rejection. Nobody had fallen sick and the wheat was completely fit for human consumption. There was no disparity between the reports of post and pre-shipment analysis, though there was a difference in methodology. Also, there was no question of buying feed-grade wheat.”
Upon contact Shahid Hussain, federal additional secretary Minfal, said: “Last year, only four consignments failed to meet the standard specifications of PARC and those too were released after the samples were examined by a third party abroad.”
The condition of post-shipment analysis, he maintained, was relaxed at times due to the concerns of importers. “Most countries do not observe the condition of post-shipment analysis. Last year, reputed agencies were involved in pre-shipment analysis and there was no question of importing feed-grade wheat. We had problems only due to improper blending of indigenous and foreign varieties.”
Rules of business
According to the rules of business, Minfal is responsible for wheat import. However, that job has been taken over by the TCP for almost eight years now. Minfal is not playing its role for some unknown reasons and has limited itself towards the issuance of specifications only when it comes to import commodities. On the other hand, the TCP doesn’t possess any technical expertise to operate such a business.
In the past, wheat import through the private sector always remained subject to vigorous inspections by government agencies for fear that the private sector may manipulate the quality. For this purpose, the government inspectors used to be sent to port prior to and during loading of the ship-hold. The procedure remained in practice till 2005. Later, the government withdrew its inspection at the load port and subsequent post-shipment analysis at the discharge port. This empowered the private sector to import wheat of their choice without any proper checks.
