ISLAMABAD
\nMinister for National Food Security and Research, Rana Tanveer Hussain, has reiterated that compliance with Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) regulations is a cardinal principle of international trade in agro-products.
\n\u201cThese rules are not a formality; they are the lifeline of our export system, safeguarding food safety, public health, and the biosecurity of ecosystems,\u201d the minister emphasized. \u201cPakistan will not allow the reckless actions of a few to jeopardize the livelihood of our farmers, the credibility of our certification system, and the hard-earned reputation of Pakistan in global markets,\u201d he added.
\nMeanwhile, on the directions of minister, the Department of Plant Protection (DPP), under the Ministry of National Food Security and Research, has taken robust initiatives across rice, maize, citrus, and mango sectors to ensure SPS compliance.
\nDuring the current mango season 2025, several reforms were introduced, including posting of staff at exit points, engagement of reputed PSI firms, installation of CCTV cameras, back-end monitoring, mandatory and punching of vehicle numbers on phytosanitary certificates, said a press release issued by the Food Security Ministry on Wednesday.
\nThe photographic proof of staff with consignments, and reshuffling of staff to eliminate malpractice were also introduced for ensuring strict compliance. These steps reflect the government\u2019s commitment to transparency and credibility in the phytosanitary certification system.
\nActing under the direct instructions of Federal Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain, DPP intercepted a major violation on 25th May 2025 at Jinnah International Airport, Karachi. In collaboration with Pakistan Customs, three mango consignments totaling 6.2 metric tons, valued at USD 25,649, destined for Norway, were stopped due to blatant non-compliance with mandatory EU phytosanitary protocols.
\nThe exporters \u2014 M\/s Pak Punjab International, M\/s Sajjad & Co., and M\/s Kamran Enterprises \u2014 attempted to bypass critical SPS requirements such as Hot Water Treatment (HWT), sourcing from registered orchards, pesticide residue analysis, and correct HS code declaration.
\nThe minister strongly condemned this illegal attempt, declaring: \u201cSuch irresponsible acts do not harm a single consignment \u2014 they risk shutting down Pakistan\u2019s entire export window to Europe. Those involved are not just violating rules; they are acting against national interests. We will ensure strictest penalties and zero tolerance for such elements.\u201d
\nAs an immediate corrective measure, Customs confiscated the non-compliant consignments and imposed penalties, while DPP restrained the violators from future exports for a specified period. Owing to these timely interventions, Pakistan has successfully exported around 120,000 metric tons of mangoes so far in the 2025 season without a single rejection or interception reported from any country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD Minister for National Food Security and Research, Rana Tanveer Hussain, has reiterated that compliance with Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) regulations is a cardinal principle of international trade in agro-products. \u201cThese rules are not a formality; they are the lifeline of our export system, safeguarding food safety, public health, and the biosecurity of ecosystems,\u201d the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":80266,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86283"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86293,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86283\/revisions\/86293"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}