The ban to import red kidney beans has been lifted and approval has been given by the government to import red kidney beans from Ethiopia.
On Thursday, Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhr Imam said to lift the ban on the import of red kidney beans from Ethiopia under the condition to follow Standard Operating Procedures.
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Speaking to Pakistan’s ambassador-designate to Ethiopia Syed Shozab Abbas, the minister said it was important that the Ethiopian side keeps on sharing progress on the Pest Risk Analysis (PRA) with our Department of Plant Protection (DPP) for the permanent settlement of this issue based on scientific evidence and procedures.
Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhr Imam further said that the draft memorandum of understanding cooperation formerly proposed by the Ethiopian side could not be finalized as the provincial governments gave no good response.
He also said that the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) should sign MoU with its counterpart, the Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organization, from which MoU draft can be shared by PARC after completion of the internal formalities of the Pakistan government.
In 2020, Pakistan exported 150 metric tons of maize starch with a value of $0.033 million and 362.30 metric tons of rice valued at $0.20 million. Likewise, Ethiopia imported 152.5 metric tons of black tea, 12,160 metric tons of kidney beans, and 213 metric tons of Pinto Beans worth $11.414 million in 2020.
Moreover, PARC suggested that Pakistan may extend the assistance to Ethiopian side in the many areas including poultry production and processing, livestock breed improvement, honey bee management and value addition, artificial insemination and rehabilitation of degraded lands, conservation of biodiversity, and developing and fabricating agricultural machinery and farm implements.
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