LAHORE: The Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA) has proposed that avenues of import of corn/soybean and sunflower meal should be left open by withdrawing customs duty and regulatory duty temporarily and, at the same time, customs duty on soybean meal be brought down from three percent to zero percent and sales tax be brought down from 17 percent to five percent to revive the poultry sector.
Similarly, it said as soybean meal was an essential ingredient of poultry feed and also contributed edible oil for consumption, customs duty on its import be brought down from 11 percent to zero percent and sales tax be brought down from 17 percent to zero percent as in the case of sunflower meal.
It further said the Federal Board of Revenue was approached last year to grant sales tax exemption on import of machinery & equipment to be used in poultry industry. The FBR agreed and clarified that the sales tax exemption would be provided to the plants, machinery and equipment to be used in any phase of poultry industry. But this exemption being the ambiguous could not be availed by the poultry farmers, it should be further clarified. It is required to be made easy to avail the exemption.
The association further said the poultry production was an agro industrial complex, poultry farming of all types and hatcheries were basically an agricultural activity and it could not afford the high price of energy - electricity. It is submitted that poultry is part of agriculture and agricultural (tube well) tariff of electricity should be applied on the poultry sector.
Due to heavy losses at poultry farms, most of the poultry farmers have lost their capital and they are unable to continue poultry farming. It is humbly submitted that scheduled banks be asked to help poultry sector to arrange working capital and short loans on zero percent mark-up so that they could continue poultry farming.
There are many big research institutions under livestock department/govt of the Punjab undertaking research work. Poultry Research Institute (PRI), Veterinary Research Institute (VRI) and University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) should be deputed to manufacture vaccine/medicine to control the spread of disease at poultry farms.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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