ISLAMABAD: A corruption scandal valued at over $13.6 million (Rs4 billion) has shaken Pakistan’s agriculture regulatory framework, exposing deep-rooted malpractice within the Department of Plant Protection (DPP) and its parent body, the Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MONFSR).
At the heart of the scandal lies the unlawful import of Methyl Bromide (MB) — a highly regulated fumigant — from India, in direct violation of Pakistan’s import policy and multiple national security statutes.
The situation escalated when four containers carrying 64,000 kg of Indian MB valued at $960,000 were found stuck at Karachi Port, highlighting an alarming breach of border controls.
In a chilling development, one such MB container arrived just four days before April 2025 military escalation between India and Pakistan, raising concerns of national security implications.
Investigations shared with The News have revealed that illegal Import Permission Certificates (IPCs) were granted to companies enabling the import of MB from India despite a formal trade ban with India since August 5, 2019. Official records from DPP confirm that MB imports under these fraudulent permissions were valued at $13.6 million.
“This is no longer just a case of regulatory malpractice or financial corruption — it’s a matter of national sovereignty. Allowing Indian-origin MB into Pakistani supply chains under fraudulent permits not only violates the Pakistan Customs Act (Sections 32, 32A, 79 & 80) and Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010, but also potentially endangers national interests during periods of heightened geopolitical tensions”, a source said while sharing the information. The DPP’s conduct, described by whistleblowers as “a decade-long nexus of corruption,” is now under public scrutiny.
The DPP has been accused of indiscriminately treating imported agro-commodities with MB without coordination with exporting countries’ National Plant Protection Organizations (NPPOs), allowing a monopoly in MB import and fumigation services, favoring specific firms aligned with corrupt officials and failing to reconcile discrepancies between the imported quantity of MB and the volume of consignments reportedly fumigated, suggesting widespread data manipulation and financial irregularities.
Even when a company raised the alarm on January 19, 2024, the response from DPP was superficial. Though DG DPP cancelled the IPCs of the three offending companies, no action was taken against the DPP officers who issued those certificates, no criminal cases were initiated and no illegal MB stock was confiscated.
This corruption trail is further compounded by DPP’s flagrant violation of Rule-4 of Agriculture Pesticides Rules (APR) 1973, under which no laboratory testing or research trials were conducted before granting import permissions for MB. This permission was granted to a firm enjoying monopolistic control, and later to its sister company, again illegally.
Despite multiple formal complaints including one from a company dated November 11, 2021— the DPP continued to facilitate these companies, while systematically denying market access to neutral importers. Insiders have told The News that senior DPP officers are allegedly on the payroll of a handful of MB importers, undermining the department’s role as a neutral regulator.
“What makes this case even more shocking is the lack of decisive government action, even after multiple prime ministers took personal interest and inquiry committees were formed”, said a source in a background discussion.
A comprehensive inquiry report, submitted by Rashid Mahmood Langrial (then Additional Secretary MONFSR and now Chairman FBR) on March 10, 2022, clearly outlined the corruption, but its recommendations remained unimplemented.
Secretary MNFSR Waseem Ajmal when reached by The News said, “This is a very important issue. The ministry has broken the monopoly of MB mafia and faced pressure from multiple quarters which cannot even be described. The mafia and its corrupt supporters have been sorted out in the ministry and no one is obliging them anymore”.
Whereas, Director General DPP Tahir Abbas when contacted by this correspondent said that in the past five months, the DPP’s role has been appreciated at different levels as these malpractices were put forward by the department itself
To counter this, DG said the following steps have been taken:
1. Suspension of licence of three companies through comprehensive speaking orders after opportunity of hearing.
2. Four consignments of around one million USD of methyl bromide are held by Customs on intervention of DPP. They have initiated legal proceedings
3. One entomologist who gave illegal NOC has been suspended and charge sheeted.
4. Import conditions have been reviewed after extensive consultations with national level Committee of Scientists. It will reduce consumption of methyl bromide to roughly one third
5. Further negotiations with trading countries are under process to have more scientific and technical import conditions.
6. Further administrative actions are under process
7. New licences will be given strictly in line with the applicable law
8. Double fumigation has been done away with.
