LAHORE, Aug 6: Compulsory membership of Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (Reap) is an impediment in increasing exports and it must be done away with, says Basmati Growers Association (BGA) President Hamid Malhi.

In a statement on Monday, he insisted that export should be open to every member of any chamber of commerce and industry as is the case with other export commodities.

“Regulation is the role of the government and not private sector trade bodies, especially those with direct interest in trade, he said and added that rice exports stood $2.18 billion in 2009-10 and have been stagnant since then.

The decline in Basmati exports of 15 per cent is now a matter of record.

“Compare it with the Indian Basmati exports, which have increased three-fold during the same period, and harmful reality of this restriction becomes even more evident.

“We need to ponder why are we lagging behind and dumping nearly 75 per cent of our Basmati exports in the Middle East, especially Dubai?

“Basmati rice was exported above 10,000 tons only to 15 countries and below 1000 tons was exported to 67 countries.

To the EU, Basmati exports are just limited to 44,000 tons and only14,000 tons to the US last year.

First, the REAP took over the Quality Review Committee and then made its membership compulsory. Both these processes are restricting, rather than promoting, exports. Why QRC should not be autonomous and independent body, free of any interference?

The ethnic Basmati consumer abroad willingly pays extra money only for quality and origin of the Basmati. This assurance to the consumer cannot be denied under any pretext. Basmati growers have protected the Basmati heritage over centuries and not REAP, which is a recent development of 1998.

All 1,500 rice exporters surely do not export Basmati rice and of total number of the Basmati rice exporters only a very few of them export quantities above 10,000 tons a year.