PFMA wants ban on movement of flour, other products lifted

LAHORE: The flour millers have reacted sharply to unannounced restrictions on inter-provinces and inter-districts movement of wheat flour and other products made out of privately purchased wheat by the millers and called for immediate withdrawal of the curbs as these may lead to shortage of flour.

The Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA), Punjab, held a meeting the other day which was attended by a large number of executive committee members and mill owners and was chaired by the PFMA Punjab Chairman Chaudhry Iftikhar Mattoo.

Through a unanimous resolution, it asked the government to withdraw the ban on movement of flour and wheat products made out of privately purchased wheat. They termed this ban ‘contrary to the Constitution’ as it assures free transportation and business.

The meeting was of the view that flour consumption has increased in rural areas too because of the recent floods and rains so the provincial food department should enhance the wheat quota for the millers and that too equally for all the mills.

Meanwhile, the Progressive Group of the flour millers said that unannounced and unwritten policies of the provincial food department were creating supply issues instead of easing or smoothing the flour supply to the market.

Khalique Arshad and Majid Abdulla of the group said that first ban on supplying flour to KPK and now ban on inter-district movement has caused multiple hardships for the mills as their payments had also stuck in the market.

They said that the department was also saying that if any mill wanted to send private wheat and wheat products to other district then it has to leave the quota of that specific day. They were of the view that if a mill leaves its official quota of wheat then supply of subsidized flour to that specific district will also decrease.

The Progressive Group hinting at shortage of flour in different districts due to this step of the food department had appealed the provincial food department to withdraw this ban forthwith.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022