KARACHI, March 24: Wholesalers of sugar are still reluctant in making separate licence for sugar trade as the deadline given by the Sindh Food Department expires on March 27, 2006.
So far not a single wholesaler has made the licence as they feel that there is still no need for making a separate licence when they already having a Food Grain Licence (FGL) in which sugar is included.
Besides, only wholesalers in Karachi or in other parts of Sindh are being forced for making separate licence, while there has been no such initiative taken by the Food Departments of other provinces, wholesalers argued.
The Sindh Food Department on February 16 had given 15 days extra to the sugar traders to make separate licence after a meeting with wholesalers. Earlier, the deadline was March 12, while the notification for making separate licence had been issued on February 15.
Traders of Jodia Bazar had suspended the trading prior to March 12 to record their protest against the Sindh government’s move. As a result, the hub of country’s wholesale trade ran out of sugar stocks but the matter was resolved after a meeting with Director of the Sindh Food Department on March 16 in order to resume sugar trade.
So far the trading in sugar at the Jodia Bazar has been running swiftly but it is not clear how the Sindh Food Department will react when the deadline expires next week.
In the March 16 meeting the director had only listened to the reservations from the traders in making the separate licence but he was firm on his stand that there should be a separate licence for sugar trade as the commodity was not part of Food Grain Licence.
Anis Majeed, adviser to the Karachi Wholesale Grocers Association (KWGA), told Dawn that sugar wholesalers still felt that there was no need for separate licence and that was why not a single trader had made the licence so far.
He said that as the deadline drew nearer the association would send a letter to the director food on March 25 to further give the feeling of the sugar wholesalers.
He added that the association would again inform the director that food grain licence was already being issued to the wholesale dealers by the Food Department for trading of wheat, wheat atta, maida, suji, rice, paddy and sugar as per West Pakistan Food Stuff Control Act 1958. Moreover, the monthly stock reports were also being submitted to the department accordingly.
He said that the FGL for the trading of above items so making separate licence for sugar would put unnecessary burden on the dealers.
He said that under the February 15 notification wholesalers were also allowed to keep 60 tons of sugar stock which was not sufficient and there was a need to increase the quantity to 200 tons.
Besides, he added that there was an impression in the market that the importers were exempted from making separate licence which the Food Department should clarify.
Currently, wholesalers are lifting the stocks from the sugar millers while the commodity is being traded at Rs35-36 per kg at the wholesale stage and Rs37-38 per kg at retail.
