Poultry sector demands sales tax-free status

Insists there should be no duties, tax on primary food

LAHORE:

Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA) has asked the government to remove all duties and sales tax on the import of raw material, chemicals and machinery used in the production of primary food.

The association has demanded that the government should remove sales tax on grain, meat, eggs, milk, fish, vegetables, fruits and edible oil.

“Government should keep the poultry sector sales tax-free, in fact all primary food should be sales tax-free,” said PPA Chairman Abdul Karim at a press conference on Monday.

The poultry sector, he said, had suffered losses over the last five years owing to the rise in farming cost due to multiple factors including the increase in feed cost, rupee devaluation, heavy energy bill and high bank discount rates.

As a result, “all segments of the poultry business met with huge financial losses and the entire sector lost its working capital during the said period.”

Besides, in recent years, Covid-19 has hit hard the poultry enterprises that were already struggling to keep their business afloat, Karim said.

The PPA chairman pointed out that the export of poultry products had also dropped considerably due to the high input costs. “The situation has worsened due to a sudden increase in petroleum prices and rupee devaluation coupled with prolonged load-shedding.”

Poultry farmers “have off and on sought the attention of policymakers to the worsening situation, but somehow the policymakers are under the delusion that the sector will recover automatically”, he added.

He underlined the need for reviving the poultry sector to save the country from serious food security issues.

“PPA has urged government departments many a time, but no step has been taken to address the issues. Poultry farming cost has gone up more than 200% in the last five years,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2022.

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