May 13, 2006	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 14, 1427

ISLAMABAD, May 12: The government on Friday notified the five per cent regulatory duty imposed on import of wheat to ensure that local farmers at least get a minimum price of Rs415 per 40kg for their produce.

The government has also withdrawn the exemption of five per cent statutory duty from wheat import to be effective retrospectively from May 2.

The decisions were notified by the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) through two different customs notifications by amending SRO567 of 2005. With this, total customs duty on import of wheat will be 10 per cent.

The minimum price of wheat was Rs400 per 40 kg last year. Due to the exemption, the import of wheat had caused low price for the local farmers.

Major wheat growers from Punjab have urged the food ministry to ensure that the farmers get Rs440-450 per 40kg this year owing to high input cost.

The government has also fixed the wheat procurement target of five million tons this year. The target was over a million tons more than the last year target of 3.94 million tons.

It was likely to get more than the estimated wheat target of 20.5 million tons for the current year. The country’s annual wheat consumption is 21 million tons.