Pakistan ranked lowest-risk for food safety in FY24

Minister of Rice Exports Association of Pakistan (REAP), Malik Faisal Jahangir has revealed during a meeting with Commerce minister Jam Kamal that Pakistan has toppled India in terms of food security. The discussion focussed on maintaining rice exports in respect to falling international prices and India’s lifting of its rice export ban starting to take effect from this October. 

According to the briefings, Mr Malik informed the Commerce minister that only 74 rapid alerts for pesticides were issued against Pakistani rice exporters last year while compared to Indian rice exporters who got 264 complaints.

He noted that Pakistan remains one of the lowest risk countries concerning food safety standards while countries like Turkey, India, Spain, Italy and the UK faced significant high alerts.

However the REAP minister stated concern over a negative campaign that could potentially harm Pak’s export reputation. He shared positive feedback during the meeting, reporting that Pakistan’s rice exports encounter fewer challenges than other competitors in the same business.

The commerce ministry has removed the minimum export price to enhance competitiveness with India in international markets. It’s also being said that Pak may struggle to match its export value from 2023 due to the low prices.

According to an official statement, Commerce minister Kamal called for measures to enhance Pakistan’s rice exports and ensure compliance with European food safety standards. The need for greater collaboration is felt between the government and exporters to maintain the competitive edge.

He also highlighted the key role of rice exports on the Pak economy noting that it is in second spot only after cotton in terms of export value. He stated that rice exporters are a primary source of revenue and employment with the government aiming to increase exports from a value worth $4 billion to $6-$7 billion in the near future. 

Along with this, there were talks of recent diplomatic relations development between Pakistan and Indonesia as the country expects the Indonesian PM to land for bilateral talks.