LAHORE: The poultry value-addition industry demands a cut in duties and taxes on ingredients of poultry feed and medicines to claim a better share for poultry products in the world market.

“We can claim a reasonable share in the international market provided production cost of the poultry products are brought down by reducing duties and taxes imposed on the ingredients meant for preparing feed and medicines for the birds,” says Salman Tariq, director of a leading poultry processing unit while talking to agriculture reporters here on Tuesday.

He says presently Brazil is ruling even the Middle East market because of being 25 to 30 per cent cheaper than Pakistan’s poultry products.

The federal commerce ministry has been approached multiple times to seek targeted subsidy in the forms of a cut in taxes and duties on the poultry processing industry to become competitive against Brazil in the world markets but no response has so far been given to the requests, he says.

Mr Tariq asserts that Pakistan may claim a larger share at least in the Gulf market provided the government comes to their help as local products are equally good in comparison to that of the other world players.

Responding to a query, he says the processed chicken meat share in the local market is just around 5pc share but it is gradually growing each year with five major and over a dozen smaller players in the field.

Published in Dawn, April 7th, 2021