ISLAMABAD, May 3: Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) has urged the government to allow the export of sugar to Afghanistan in Pakistani rupees.

Talking to this reporter the PASMA secretary-general, K. Ali Qazilbash, said the association raised the issue with the officials of commerce ministry, who had not taken a decision in this regard.

“The exporters have so far failed to export surplus sugar to Afghanistan following the government’s decision to allow its zero-rated export to that country,” he added.

In response to a question Mr Qazilbash said the excise and taxation authorities were not giving refunds to the exporters against the Pakistani rupees.

On the other hand, he said it was not convenient for the members of the association to export sugar against dollars as there was no proper banking channels in Afghanistan.

He said: “The government should withdraw sales tax on sugar as the country can export around 15,000-20,000 tons of the commodity to Afghanistan annually.”

To a question, Mr Qazilbash did not rule out the possibility of smuggling of sugar from Afghanistan into Pakistan as according to him landing price of sugar in that country is around Rs18 a kilogram.

The PASMA secretary-general said, due to high cost of sugar in Pakistan, the Afghan traders preferred to import sugar from other countries.

The government has levied 15 per cent sales tax on sugar export and a further three per cent sales tax on its supply to a non-registered company.