ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is considering extending the period of lifting ban on the import of red kidney beans from Ethiopia on the condition that the SOPs the two countries agreed to observe are fully complied with by the Ethiopian government, Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhr Imam said on Thursday. Mr Fakhr Imam said the draft memorandum of understanding on agricultural cooperation formerly proposed by the Ethiopian side could not be finalised due to poor response of the provincial governments. He suggested that the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) may sign an MoU with its counterpart, the Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organisation, for which a draft of MoU may be shared by PARC after completion of the internal formalities of the Pakistan government. This year, Pakistan exported 150 metric tons of maize starch with the value of $0.033 million and 362.30 metric tons of rice valued at $0.20 million. Similarly, this year 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.

Source: Ethiopian News August 28, 2020 07:30 UTC