Qatar Again Bans Pakistani Basmati Rice

The foreign minister said that Qatar had put some conditions for importing Basmati rice.

Lahore (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 14th May, 2019) Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that Qatar has banned Pakistani Basmati rice.

Briefing the National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, the foreign minister said that Qatar had put some conditions for importing Basmati rice.

One of the conditions was that the Basmati rice should be Indian, he said, adding that Basmati rice is produced in Pakistan and India exports the same rice.

The foreign minister revealed that Qatar has banned Pakistani Basmati rice. He said that the Pakistani government has already raised the matter with Qatar.

He added that the Ministry of food and Agriculture needs several improvements, adding that the Qatari Emir is likely to soon visit Pakistan.

Qatar annually imports 200,000 tonnes of rice.

Qatar had recently agreed to include Pakistani rice in the tender documents of the Central Tendering Committee which falls directly under the purview of Qatar’s Ministry of Economy and Commerce.

The development came during Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Qatar on January 21-22

The lifting of the ban on Pakistani rice was expected to provide an additional US $40-50 million of rice exports to Qatar if the quality is maintained.

However, the foreign minister has revealed that Qatar never lifted this ban.