March 07, 2008	Friday	Safar 28, 1429

ISLAMABAD, March 6: The government has exempted maize grain imported by poultry sector from 10 per cent duty.

The decision was taken through a customs notification SRO 215 of 2008 by amending SRO 567 of 2006.

According to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), the measure has been taken to mitigate difficulties being faced by the poultry industry in meeting its demand of maize because of short supply and higher price in the domestic market. It will also help reduce the practice of replacing maize with wheat in the poultry feed, which will in turn ease out pressure on the wheat supply in the country.

An official report of WTO said the ethanol constitutes the dominant reasons for this year’s increase in grain prices. The US now domestically consumes major share of its maize crop than it sells abroad.

In 2007, 85 million tons of maize went to ethanol as against 15 million tons in 2005. The ethanol also accounts for some increase in the prices of other crops/foods too because maize is fed to animals.