JEDDAH, Aug 4: The governments of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan on Sunday signed an agreement to lift the ban on imports of goat and sheep meat and their products into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The agreement was signed by Pakistan ambassador Lt-Gen (r) M. Asad Durrani and Saudi minister for commerce Osamah bin Jaffer Faqeeh at a ceremony held at the ministry of commerce in Riyadh.

According to Pakistan embassy announcement, the agreement specifies the terms and conditions for the export of goat and sheep meat to Saudi Arabia and the technical and health requirements that should be met by the Pakistani exporters. The agreement is a result of the visit of a Saudi technical team to various slaughterhouses and meat processing plants in Pakistan earlier when a number of facilities were identified that met the Saudi criteria.

Implementation and actual import of goat and sheep meat into the Saudi Arabia would begin from these facilities once other formalities have been completed and announced by the two governments, the announcement said.

The signing of the agreement reflects the close brotherly relations between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and the keen desire of the two countries to develop closer ties in all areas including commercial and economic relations.—APP