Islamabad:
The National Food Security Committee of the Assembly Assembly stressed on Friday the importance of investigating the causes behind the increase in sugar prices and exploring possible measures for market stabilization and consumer relief.
The committee met here with Syed Tariq Hussain in the chair.
The member of the committee, Zulfiqar Ali, raised the issue of sugar prices and urged the president to include it on the agenda of the next meeting. He said the industry reaped RS300 billion in profits, while consumers suffered losses.
“Farmers and consumers have suffered losses. This issue must be included in the next [meeting’s] Agenda, “said Ali. Later, the Committee decided to include the problem of sugar price on the agenda for its next meeting.
The committee discussed the problems faced by tobacco producers. The committee was informed that the officials of the Federal Income Board (FBR) had been appointed for 23 tobacco companies to monitor tobacco. The chair stressed the importance of increasing tobacco cultivation.
“If we observe the region, the world has continued very much at the policy level,” Tariq told the committee. “The world has traveled a long way in the use of drones and other technologies in the agricultural sector,” he said. “We need support at the policy formulation level.”
The Committee was informed that the General Sales Tax (GST) was imposed on cigarettes, not tobacco. It was also reported that approximately RS949 million assigned for research and development remain unused due to the vacancy position at the Pakistan Board of Tobacco (PTB).
The president instructed the Ministry to accelerate the appointment to all vacant positions in the PTB and their related committees so that the pending development and reform initiatives could advance without any delay.
The meeting was updated on key areas, including the current policy of tobacco taxes, the framework for the collection and use of the CESS Fund in the last 10 years, the PTB Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives (CSR) of the PTB and the possible introduction of a crop insurance scheme for tobacco producers.
The committee was informed that the PTB had constituted committees to supervise the regulation of cessation, CSR programs and development activities. However, the Committee raised concerns about the exclusion of tobacco producers of these bodies.
In response, the Committee ordered the Ministry to guarantee that representatives of tobacco producers are included in all relevant committees, emphasizing that significant reform and facilitation measures could not succeed without their direct participation.
The Committee also held a detailed discussion about donkey meat reports sold in Islamabad, expressing a serious concern about public health risks and regulatory negligence.
The Ministry received instructions to address the problem with the relevant authority and inform at the next meeting.
During a presentation of Cropife Pakistan, the committee was informed that the organization’s mission was to support farmers in the production of sufficient foods to meet the needs of a growing population through access to innovative agricultural technologies. (With application entry)
