The Australian Wheat Scam
About a year or so ago, the rejection of an Australian wheat consignment by Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Supply Corporation (PASSCO) caused on uproar. Designated Pakistani laboratories labelled the samples drawn from the ships delivering the wheat as “unfit for human consumption”. The vehement protest by the Australian Wheat Board (AWB) turned into a major diplomatic problem between the Australian Government and Govt of Pakistan (GOP). Withstanding tremendous pressure to accept the wheat consignment, Director General (DG) PASSCO Maj Gen Fahim Akhtar Khan, was racked over the coals by a full Federal Cabinet meeting presided over by the PM for having the audacity “to create a full fledged diplomatic incident”. He was “encouraged“ to be more cooperative. DG PASSCO stood his ground that he would not accept the consignment in the face of the laboratory report.
