Poultry shortage feared in coming weeks

Feed ingredients stuck at ports due to misinterpretation by Customs

KARACHI: The Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA) on Tuesday warned of chicken and egg shortages in coming weeks as the industry faced problems in getting poultry feed ingredients cleared from the Customs department.



Owing to misinterpretation by the Customs at ports, the authorities had been denying clearance to poultry feed ingredients including vitamin and amino acid premixes, the association said in a press release. In the Budget 2017-18, the government has given incentives to the poultry sector to ensure a smooth supply of poultry products.

There is a likelihood that because of the shortage of poultry feed ingredients, the feed will be in short supply in coming days.

This could lead to losses due to mortality, delayed weight gain and drop in egg production. Moreover, this could culminate in long-term shortages because once the breeding stock is adversely hit, the production continues to suffer throughout their lifecycle.

“These poultry feed ingredients and premixes are being imported for the past 50 years as non-drugs. Now suddenly, these are being considered as drugs,” the association said.



Currently, hundreds of containers valuing millions of dollars are stranded at the seaports. These preparations of poultry feed are highly sensitive to temperatures and are likely to lose their potency on account of any further delay.

At the same time, the government is losing substantial revenue as an outcome of the delay in clearance and the importers are suffering heavy demurrages because of misinterpretation.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 31^st, 2017.

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