MULTAN: The Pakistan Poultry Association has demanded that federal government should withdraw the newly imposed sales tax and import duty from the poultry industry.
Addressing a press conferenc, the Pakistan Poultry Association South Punjab Representatives, Mir Tahir Zaidi, Dr Azhar Mehmood and Mehr Ghazanfar, said that poultry industry is an organized sector in Pakistan and is providing 40 percent meat to the country.
Mir Tahir Zaidi said that almost 1.8 million people are employed to the profession of poultry in the country. He said that almost Rs 70 billion investment has been made in the poultry industry and it is playing a crucial role in the development of economy so the government should provide relief by withdrawing the taxes.
Poultry is the economical source of meat for the lower class in the country but government have imposed 5 percent sales tax on the feed of poultry. Zaidi said that soya-bean is also an important ingredient for poultry and the government has imposed 10 percent duty on its import which will badly affect the prices of chicken and eggs in the country.
He said that animal protein is one of the basic needs of the human being that a lower class can consume for their health in daily life. He said that annual growth rate of the poultry has almost 10-12 % with their own resources and government is not giving any subsidy.
He asked government that the price comparison of the poultry items in the last few years were almost same and the new sales taxes and import duty on the poultry industry will add burden on the poultry owners. The government should announce a subsidy package for the poultry industry in order to achieve better growth, Zaidi concluded.
