June 6, 2003	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 5, 1424

KARACHI, June 5: Pakistan Poultry Association chairman, Mr Afsar Qadri on Thursday demanded of the government to increase import duty on chicken meat.

Addressing a press conference he said dumping of the chicken meat at subsidized rate would completely wipe out the local poultry industry.

The chairman said the local cost of production is 107 per cent higher than the dumped chicken meat from China and substantially higher than Brazil, the US and Thailand, says a press release.

He said poultry farms in rural areas provide jobs and livelihood to over half a million people and contribute about 2 per cent to the GDP. Cheap import will result in a complete annihilation of the local industry causing a serious damage to rural and agro economy, pushing prices of all food items in an upward direction. There is a dire need to provide protection to the local farmers.

The chairman said that in order to compete with the imported boneless, skinless meat the local cost of production of broilers must be brought down by lowering down the higher financial costs, higher electricity costs, and rectifying irregular supply of electricity, lack of appropriate infrastructure such as air conditioned railway bogies to transport highly sensitive hatching eggs.

It is pertinent to highlight that if the authorities didn’t take any preventive measures, the poultry processing industry having capacity to store, distribute and market imported chicken would find it extremely profitable to import rather than continuing with local products which would not only be against the interest of the local farmer but the national economy as well.