KARACHI: Pakistan is expected to start export of meat and meat preparations to China within a year following progress on setting up the Foot and Mouth Disease-free zone, officials told Arab News as Chinese meat buyers showed interest in importing halal meat products from Pakistan.
Pakistan and China had signed two agreements during the visit of Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan in May this year that included the Framework Agreement on Agricultural Cooperation and Memorandum on the Requirements of Foot and Mouth Disease-Free Zone for which Chinese will provide technical assistance and support.
“To review the progress on the FMD-free zone, a Chinese team visited Pakistan a couple of days ago and held meetings with Pakistani officials,” Rao Muhammad Ajmal Khan, Chairman of National Assembly Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research, told Arab News. “They are coming back next week and we have asked them to focus on value addition to which they have agreed. They have agreed to allocate 15 percent space for the agriculture and dairy sector,” he added.
“I think it will take a year,” Rao said while responding to a question about the start of meat exports to China. “The Chinese are visiting Pakistan for their own assessment. They are more interested in setting up slaughter houses in the free zone and from there they want to export.”
The first meeting of the China-Pakistan Joint Working Group (JWG) between the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, China, and the Ministry of National Food Security and Research, Pakistan, on agricultural cooperation was held in Islamabad on Friday.
“In the meeting it was agreed, on the basis of cooperation in protection and control of animal epidemics, to enhance the regional management of animal epidemics and FMD Free Zone with the technical support of experts,” a statement by National Food Security and Research said.
Meanwhile, a Chinese delegation from Sichuan province in a meeting with the Minister for States and Frontier Regions and Narcotics Control Shahryar Khan Afridi expressed their interest on Sunday to import Halal meat from Pakistan for the Middle East and China to cater to the need of Muslim populations, a statement issued by the ministry said. “Leader of a Chinese delegation Zhu Maa said China has good equipment and services and vowed to showcase Pakistani products and halal food in Chinese markets,” the statement added.
Pakistan exported meat and meat preparations worth $242.8 million during the fiscal year FY19 as compared to $242.7 million of previous year, showing an increase of 8 percent, data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics and State Bank of Pakistan show.
The South Asian nation mainly exports to Gulf countries along with Vietnam and Malaysia. The country remains out of the Chinese market of $12 to 15 billion due to a ban imposed on Pakistan owing to the FMD background while stringent quarantine standards and registration processes are also major hurdles.
Exporters say the country’s meat reaches the Chinese market but not directly.
“Pakistani meat is supplied to China, though not directly but through the indirect route of Vietnam, which is illegal and via smuggling,” Mian Abdul Hannan, Chairman of the All Pakistan Meat Exporters and Processors Association, told Arab News. “We don’t have any trade agreement with China for the export of meat. The main reason for that is the FMD.”
Pakistan at present stands at Stage II of FMD and expects to move to Stage III after the FMD-free zones are set up to control and eradicate the epidemic.
“The countries that are at the same stage can import and exports. It is not possible to sign agreement and start exports until we attain the same level of FMD with China or meet the requirements of the Chinese authorities,” Hannan noted adding: “Exports will start when our FMD status will be cleared and we will move to stage three.”
The status upgrade will also allow the country to enter another big meat market of Indonesia.
Pakistan to explore China’s halal meat market
Pakistan to explore China’s halal meat market
- The market offers $12-15 billion potential
- Pakistan will start exporting meat to China after experts scan animals for disease
12 killed, 20 injured in suicide blast outside Islamabad district court--official
- Security official says blast carried out by “Indian-sponsored” Pakistani Taliban militant group
- Pakistan has seen resurgence in militant attacks since Afghan Taliban came to power in Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD: Twelve people were killed while 20 others were injured in a suicide blast outside a court in Islamabad on Tuesday, a security official confirmed.
According to the official, the explosion took place outside a district court in Islamabad’s G-11 sector, saying the blast affected mostly passersby standing nearby at the time of the incident.
So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, the official said the blast had been carried out by the Pakistani Taliban or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) outfit, which the military frequently describes as “Indian-sponsored” and “Fitna-ul-Khawarij.”
“The bodies of 12 people killed in the explosion have been shifted to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Hospital,” the security official said on condition of anonymity. “Twenty injured have been shifted to emergency room at PIMS Hospital.”
The official said that more wounded persons were being brought into the hospital.
“The alleged suicide bomber’s severed head was found on the road,” he added.
Earlier Tuesday, Pakistani security forces said they foiled an attempt by militants to take cadets hostage at an army-run college overnight, when a suicide car bomber and five other Pakistani Taliban fighters targeted the facility in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.
The attack started on Monday evening, when a bomber tried to storm the cadet college in Wana, a city in KP near the Afghan border. The area had until recent years served as a base for the Pakistani Taliban, Al-Qaeda and other foreign militants.
According to Alamgir Mahsud, the local police chief, two of the militants were quickly killed by troops while three militants managed to enter the compound before being cornered in an administrative block. The army’s commandoes were among the forces conducting a clearance operation and an intermittent exchange of fire went on into Tuesday, Mahsud said.
The administrative block is away from the building housing hundreds of cadets and other staff.
The Pakistani Taliban, or TTP, denied involvement in the college attack. The group has been emboldened since the Afghan Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021, and many of its leaders and fighters are believed to have taken refuge in Afghanistan.
With additional input from AP News
