ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Senate Committee on National Food Security on Thursday approved an ordinance to create the National Agri-Trade and Food Safety Authority (NAFSA), aimed at attracting investment from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, as experts said agricultural exports could rise to $25 billion by adopting global best practices.
Agriculture accounts for about 19 percent of Pakistan’s gross domestic product, and the initiative is meant to align the country’s agricultural exports with international food safety and trade standards.
The reform follows years of criticism from trading partners over Pakistan’s failure to meet global sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) requirements, rules that govern food safety, plant health and animal welfare, with the European Union (EU) repeatedly rejecting Pakistani consignments over compliance gaps.
Attending the committee meeting, Federal Food Security Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain said the government had worked extensively over the proposed authority, which he said would overhaul the agricultural export regulatory system.
“A board will be established for the authority in which all the provinces will be given representation as provinces are major stakeholders in Pakistan’s agriculture sector,” he said, adding that the director general will be appointed on merit with 20 years of relevant experience and educational qualification.
