23:16
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LAHORE: India has conditioned the cement exports from Pakistan to its land with the Performance Bank Guarantee of $10,000 to be furnished by latter’s exporters, The News has learnt on Friday.
A letter issued by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to all foreign cement manufacturers including those from Pakistan, said cement exporters would have to submit this guarantee in order to be qualified for exporting cement to the country.
This is another nontariff barrier imposed by the BIS to restrict cement exports from Pakistan despite the latter to have accorded the most favoured nation (MFN) status to India to be effective from January 1, 2013, said an official of one of the country’s largest cement manufacturers.
India was used to impose such nontariff barrier on Pakistani cement exporters in the past too to control Pakistani cement penetration in the Indian market, he said.
In 2007, the BIS issued licenses to Pakistani cement manufacturers after physical verification of their production process for one year or two.
Almost all the units obtain the certification from the BIS, which were expired for more than last six months, resulting into stoppage/slowdown of cement exports, said the official.
He said cement manufacturers had already applied for renewal of the certification well before the expiry, adding but renewal of certification process was delayed due to security concerns of the BIS. These licences should be renewed automatically, he added.
There is a huge demand of Pakistani cement in India and Pakistan has the capacity to export 6 to 7 million tonnes of cement. The country exported 786,672 tonnes cement to India during 2007-08, 634,456 tonnes in 2008-09, 722,967 tonnes in 2009-10, 320,230 tonnes in 2010-11, and 605,435 tonnes in 2011-12.
Only two interchanges established at Wahga-Attari border for crossing of railway wagons, are also seen as nontariff barrier.
This causes congestion of wagons at the Wahga border restricting further loading of cement at T-10, said the sources.
Both Pakistani and Indian railways have assigned limited number of railway wagons for transportation of cement, which is also hampering cement trade between the two countries, they added.
Only 3 to 4 cement trucks are crossing Wahga border daily, while there is a long queue of trucks waiting for approval to cross the border.
Due to the high inland freight costs, it is not possible for cement manufacturers to export cement through sea, said the sources.
Besides, since 80 percent of cement manufacturing plants are located in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, sea route is not a viable option, they said.
Cement export through land route was permitted in April 2012. However, the cement industry has not been able to export as much quantity as ordered from India due to restrictions/non-acceptance by Indian government.
A letter issued by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to all foreign cement manufacturers including those from Pakistan, said cement exporters would have to submit this guarantee in order to be qualified for exporting cement to the country.
This is another nontariff barrier imposed by the BIS to restrict cement exports from Pakistan despite the latter to have accorded the most favoured nation (MFN) status to India to be effective from January 1, 2013, said an official of one of the country’s largest cement manufacturers.
India was used to impose such nontariff barrier on Pakistani cement exporters in the past too to control Pakistani cement penetration in the Indian market, he said.
In 2007, the BIS issued licenses to Pakistani cement manufacturers after physical verification of their production process for one year or two.
Almost all the units obtain the certification from the BIS, which were expired for more than last six months, resulting into stoppage/slowdown of cement exports, said the official.
He said cement manufacturers had already applied for renewal of the certification well before the expiry, adding but renewal of certification process was delayed due to security concerns of the BIS. These licences should be renewed automatically, he added.
There is a huge demand of Pakistani cement in India and Pakistan has the capacity to export 6 to 7 million tonnes of cement. The country exported 786,672 tonnes cement to India during 2007-08, 634,456 tonnes in 2008-09, 722,967 tonnes in 2009-10, 320,230 tonnes in 2010-11, and 605,435 tonnes in 2011-12.
Only two interchanges established at Wahga-Attari border for crossing of railway wagons, are also seen as nontariff barrier.
This causes congestion of wagons at the Wahga border restricting further loading of cement at T-10, said the sources.
Both Pakistani and Indian railways have assigned limited number of railway wagons for transportation of cement, which is also hampering cement trade between the two countries, they added.
Only 3 to 4 cement trucks are crossing Wahga border daily, while there is a long queue of trucks waiting for approval to cross the border.
Due to the high inland freight costs, it is not possible for cement manufacturers to export cement through sea, said the sources.
Besides, since 80 percent of cement manufacturing plants are located in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, sea route is not a viable option, they said.
Cement export through land route was permitted in April 2012. However, the cement industry has not been able to export as much quantity as ordered from India due to restrictions/non-acceptance by Indian government.
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