ISLAMABAD, Sept 9: Pakistan will formally ask Mexican government to withdraw the ban imposed on import of all kinds of rice from Pakistan around six years ago.

Officials told Dawn on Saturday that a high-level delegation led by Minister of State for Economic Affairs Division Hina Rabbani Khar would discuss the issue among others during first ever Pak-Mexican Joint Ministerial Conference to be held next month in the Mexico City.

The Mexican government had imposed a ban on import of all kinds of rice on the plea that the Pakistani rice carried a fungus named ‘Kapra Beetle’ which was not suitable for consumption on health reasons.

The officials, however, said the fungus is only carried in grains and not in rice but again it led to complete suspension of export of rice to the Mexican market.

According to the officials, the delegation would also propose the initiation of preferential trade agreement (PTA) that would lead to a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries.

Meanwhile, the officials said that all rice stakeholders had been invited to hold a meeting to work out a strategy for contesting the ban imposed on rice which resulted into reducing Pakistan’s market access for the commodity.

Some leading rice exporters have also been invited to be part of the delegation, added the officials.

“Mexico is not a major market for Pakistani rice but it gives a wrong signal to the world market about the quality of our rice. We all know that Pakistan is major exporter of rice to the European Union member countries, especially the UK," the officials remarked.

Europe has very tough standards about the quality of rice, they said, and added that if Pakistani rice meets those standards then it means that the ban was illegal.

The ban was levied on the basis of a report prepared by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), which mentioned in its report the presence of the said fungus in Pakistani rice.

"It is just a lame excuse because actually Mexico wanted to provide protection to its farmers, which was against the international trading norms," the official added.