LAHORE: The Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA) has demanded the federal government to allow the poultry industry to resume export of chicken and eggs to Afghanistan which was stopped previously by the government.
PPA North region Vice Chairman Chaudhry Muhammad Fargham in a press briefing on Monday appreciated the initiative taken by government to allow export of selected items to Afghanistan for three days in a week. “We request the government to include chicken meat and eggs in the exports list of allowed items to Afghanistan,” Fargham requested.
The vice-chairman added that Pakistan’s poultry industry supplies prime quality protein food in the form of poultry meat and eggs, at a very affordable price.
“Pakistan’s poultry industry has an annual turnover of over Rs 800 billion. It gives employment to over 1.5 million people directly and indirectly,” Fargham maintained.
Talking to media, PPA’s North region Secretary Major (r) Javaid Hussain Bukhari said that Afghanistan is our brotherly country which is dependent on us for supply of chicken and eggs as they are not available in their country and these are the essential food items too.
“We were previously exporting chicken and eggs to Afghanistan but this was stopped by the government and the people of Afghanistan are dependent on us for eggs and chicken,” Bukhari said.
He added that this step would not only help the brotherly nation in this time of need during the coronavirus outbreak but would also help Pakistan in earning foreign exchange through exports of chicken and eggs. Agreeing with them, people from the poultry industry fear that if the ban is not lifted on war footings, India and other countries will capture the huge Afghan market for poultry and poultry products and Pakistan’s re-entry would be difficult.
