Karachi: Rice exporters extremely worried over Kenyan government’s inordinate delay in deciding the fate of rice import from Pakistan, have further grieved over the expiry of deadline on Wednesday, June 30, 2009, the last date for preferential tariff for Pak rice.
It is feared that, if the decision from the Kenyan government were notannounced soon, the shipments of rice from Pakistan would be started piling up at Mombasa Port. The threat of imposition of 75 per cent import tariff was looming large on import of Pakistan’s IRRI-6 as the second extension of preferential tariff of 35 per cent has been expired on year ended 2008-09 and the Pakistani rice shipments would now be subjected to 75 per cent customs duty, the tariff too high for both importers and exporters. The East African Community (EAC) had been expected to table its new official duty to guide rice import trade with Pakistan by the close of day, Wednesday amid fears of possible disruptions in trade between the two countries should the regional countries begin charging higher duty on rice imports. But in a development that is likely to trigger protests among already anxious traders, the EAC failed to give word on the matter. ‘No EAC meeting has taken place so there is no verdict yet,’ the PS at the EAC Affairs ministry, David Nalo said. It was not immediately clear when the EAC is likely to call a meeting to discuss the issue despite earlier expectations that it would have called a session last week. For many years, Kenya and other EAC nations have pegged the common external tariff (CET) on rice imports at 75 per and an extra preferential 35 per cent import duty in line with the provisions of the harmonized community description and coding system. But this arrangement was due for review on June 30, 2009, explaining the fresh tensions with Pakistan that is yet to fully recover from an earlier attempt by EAC members to raise the duty charged on rice imports four years ago. Kenya produces only about a third of its annual rice demand of 250,000 tonnes with a bulk of the shipments to fill the deficit coming from Pakistan alone. Statistics showed that IRRI-6 rice shipments to Kenya accounted for about 70 per cent of the Pakistan market share while Pakistan is on the other hand the largest importer of Kenyan tea, taking up consignments of the commodity worth about $200 million, annually. Barely a fortnight ago officials both within government circles and Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) raised concern over the arrangement and demanded a commitment that their shipments would not be subject to injurious duty charges.—Agency