Vegetable market: New law to remove middlemen

Punjab Agricultural Produce Marketing Act to allow the purchasers, sellers to interact directly, says official.

SIALKOT: “The government is preparing a Punjab Agricultural Produce Marketing Act 2010 to ban middlemen from fruits and vegetable markets and allow the purchasers and sellers to interact directly with one another,” said a senior provincial government official on Thursday.

He said the government has formulated a comprehensive plan to establish modern markets in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Under the act, he said, sellers and purchasers would be registered in their respective markets. Market committees would be authorised to charge a registration fee from them. Special Agricultural Marketing Boards would be formulated to control and regulate the affairs of the markets.

He said that the market committee fees ratio on agricultural produce, which currently stood at 0.1 per cent, would be doubled. He said that the administrators of these committees would be elected by the stakeholders.

Kissan Board representatives, however, pressed upon the government to continue with the current system. They said that the new policy would affect thousands who were earning their livelihoods by working as middlemen.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7^th, 2011.