September 01, 2006	Friday	Sha'aban 7, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Aug 31: With the imposition of Indian ban on export of fresh meat to Pakistan, the local prices of mutton and beef are likely to shoot up in the next few months owing to shortage of livestock the country has been experiencing for the last few years.

Although the Indian government has no objection to the import of frozen meat, Pakistani importers were reluctant to buy the idea as it would not only be costlier but the consumers preferred fresh meat, informed sources told Dawn on Thursday.

Pakistan imported fresh meat at an average of 220 tons per day during the last eight months from India to stabilise domestic meat price, particularly in the wake of the bird flue scare to make up for a slump in consumption of locally produced poultry.

The sources said that the ban was imposed on the pretext of promote the value addition in the meat sector, which would give more financial benefits to Indian government.

The average price of boneless fresh meat (buffalo) in India per kg was Rs70. While in the frozen form, the average boneless meat stood at Rs90 per Kg.

The sources said that the cumbersome procedures of the ministry of food and livestock had already discouraged the import of livestock from India via Wagha border despite the government exemption of all kinds of taxes.

According to official statistics available with this scribe, no livestock was imported during the July-April period of the fiscal year 2005-06. The statistics were available for the period under review, which showed that government failed to facilitate the import of livestock.

However, the statistics showed that Pakistan exported 26 cows and 219 buffaloes to Dubai and Afghanistan during the July- April of 2005-06. These figures did not reflect the number of animals smuggled to Afghanistan and Iran.

When contacted Central President of Jamiat-ul-Qureshi Meat Association Khurshed Ahmed Qureshi confirmed to Dawn that India has imposed ban on export of fresh meat to Pakistan. He said India also imposed ban on export of buffaloes and cows. However, there was no ban on goats.

He criticized the ministry of agriculture and livestock for their cumbersome procedures for import of live animals from India. He said that for import of live animals, the importers had to wait for 15-20 days for getting quarantine testing certification.

He said that it was not practical because during the testing days, the animal lost their weight so it was not economical for the importers to go for live animals import.

Mr Qureshi said that if government did not take timely measures including identification of another source for import, the local price of meat would escalate.