  
News From : DagangHalal.com (28 Sep 2011)
LAHORE: The government should initiate the process of getting Pakistan approved as meat exporter in Halal Food importing countries, as there is a vast potential for exports of value-added chicken products to the European Union (EU) and the GCC countries and Pakistani poultry farmers see an increasing interest for Halal products in the European Union and North America, an official said on Monday.
PPA Chairman Khalil Sattar urges support for the poultry industry and said that the government would need to play their due role without which no significant meat products export can take place.
He demanded the government to provide incentives to poultry exporters and freight services from Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad at preferential lower rates to help boost exports of all perishable commodities, including hatching eggs and day-old chicks.
All imported inputs are subject to varying import duties, ranging from five percent to 35 percent plus sales tax of 16 percent, while finished products from China are allowed to be imported at 16 percent import duty, thus, rendering the competition avoiding the level-playing field, he said.
Sattar said that the poultry feed producers are importing soyabean feed of over Rs6 billion from India through Wagah border, out of which every year during monsoon, the fillers lose millions of rupees due to unavailability of sheds and cemented floors to place the goods at border upon arrival.
All insurance companies have stopped giving cover on import of soyabean feed through Wagah border, as a result, there is a likelihood of no imports of soyabean feed during monsoons, which would affect the quality and cost of the poultry feed, he said.
He urged the government to establish simple sheds with galvanised steel, if not convert, with raised concrete floors to save the poultry farmers from losses of millions of rupees.
He mentioned that National Logistics Cell (NLC), the sole handling contractor at Wagah, charges an exorbitant Rs2,000 per truck for scanning purposes.
Out of 50 trucks of a consignment, usually only one truck is randomly scanned, but the payment has to be made for the entire 50 trucks.
The PPA chairman said that extensive meetings have been held with the NLC and the Ministry of Commerce, demanding a rational approach from the NLC, but so far the situation remains unchanged. He requested the minister to intervene and resolve the issue so that the input cost of poultry farmers can be brought down to give benefit to the consumers.
PPA former chairman Abdul Basit said that India is protecting its local industry by clamping percent import duty, which persists as of date, while the government of Pakistan has reduced the import duty from 50 percent to 25 percent and has also done away with the regulatory import duty of 25 percent, he said.
By: Jawwad Rizvi
Source: The News International