KARACHI-Trade Development Authority of Pakistan in collaboration with Consulate General of Pakistan in Los Angeles organised a webinar on export potential of fresh dates to USA. Around 100 growers, exporters of dates from Sindh, Baluchistan, KP and Punjab attended the webinar besides government officials from Provincial Agriculture Department of Balochistan, PHDEC and other donor companies operating in Pakistan. However, the objective of the webinar was to create awareness among Pakistani dates growers and exporters about the FDA requirements for dates exports to USA market, dates packaging and issues related to picking, drying and oiling of dates. During the webinar, Abdul Jabbar Memon, Consul General of Pakistan at Las Angeles, stressed to expedite completion of US FDA requirements.
 Abdul Karim Memon, DG TDAP, shared TDAP initiatives for getting more market access for Pakistani dates and TDAP is soon launching the dates promotion campaign through various Pakistani trade missions, and objective of this webinar is to create awareness and explore marketing opportunities to USA. Azam Kadeer, a US based importer, shared experiences of US market and way to improve farming methods to improve quality. Waheed Ahmed, Patron in Chief of Fruits and Vegetables Exporters Association, emphasized on quality improvement at farm level and packaging for increasing export of Pakistani fruits. Atif Aziz, Trade Counselor Los Angeles, shared the legal formalities of US FDA and duty structure on dates for the US market.
The webinar ended with question and answer session during which speakers provided detailed answers to the questions raised by growers and exporters of dates of all the region of Pakistan. The exporters were happy on arrangements of webinar by the TDAP.