PPA proposes 50 percent subsidy on imported H5N1 vaccines

The Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA) has proposed a 50-percent subsidy on imported H5N1 vaccines (bird flu) and urged the government to ensure that 3,000 million doses of this vaccine should be readily available in the Veterinary Research Institute in Lahore to combat the flu in time.
The proposals for budget 2008-09 came from association Chairman Abdul Basit when he told Business Recorder on Friday that they had sent these proposals to government circles and the Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry and various chambers of commerce and industry.
He said his association suggested some immediate steps to ensure revival of the poultry sector to meet the requirement of poultry meat and eggs, a comparative cheap source of protein, of the people of Pakistan. He said vaccination of (H5N1) vaccine in the areas where there has been an outbreak of the disease (50 km around) is essential for poultry farmers.
He said a law needed to be passed and enforced to register poultry farms. NOC for constructing new poultry farm must be obtained from provincial secretaries of livestock and dairy development. These approvals should be given, keeping in view some major guidelines, such as distance at least one km from another poultry farm and three km from hatchery or breeding farms. The proponent shall have fortification such that movement of men and animals is to be checked. Proposed poultry farm shall have boundary wall, gate, bio-security room at gate and a mortality pit in the premises of the farm.
He said that in the past the Pakistan government had done no public awareness campaign about bird flu. He proposed that enough cash for the public awareness campaign be allocated in the upcoming federal budget so that a comprehensive campaign could be chalked-out at government level to create awareness about bird flu. He also proposed special rebate for advertisement on TV and print media for public awareness on nutrition related health issues.
"The small and medium size poultry farmers who don't have B-I or B-II connections and have lower loads are charged 100 percent of the electricity consumption at the Commercial Tariff A-II. Since they are in a productive activity, the application of the commercial tariff is unjustified. It is therefore requested that tube-well tariff is charged from them as poultry sector is a segment of agriculture and same tariff being applied on tube-wells should also cover poultry farms," he said.
He said the grand parent stock is primary seed of poultry sector, which is not produced locally and is exclusively imported. He proposed that custom duty on its import be reduced to zero percent to reduce the cost of production of poultry products. The grand parent stock is maintained to produce hatching eggs for parent stock, which ultimately produce broiler chicks, he added.
He said that unnecessary free import of broiler parent stock of dubious quality is hazardous because of worldwide bird flu incidence in the countries from where parent stock is imported and it also destabilises the local demand and supply position for parent stock. He proposed that import duty on poultry parent stock (day old chicks) be enhanced from present five percent to 25 percent and broiler day old chicks from existing five percent to 50 percent. He also proposed imposing higher import duty on the import of broiler parent stock, broiler chicks and chicken meat.
For the protection of domestic poultry industry, the PPA chairman also proposed that the government should impose an import duty at the rate of 50 percent on import of chicken meat for a period of at least five years to allow the local production of parent stock for broilers at a sustainable level. This would prevent the periodical over-production of parent stock in the country leading to a crisis at least twice each year, he added.
In his view, this step of levying high import duty on poultry parent stock broiler chicks/eggs and on processed as well as further processed chicken meat would also result in generating additional revenue to the government. "Imposition of maximum import duty on broiler parent stock, broiler chick and chicken meat would encourage the local industry to increase its production.
On the one hand it would contribute towards national economy and on the other hand it would generate new employment opportunities. In the long run it would contribute towards the government's poverty alleviation programme and would also help in filling the gap of animal protein requirements and its availability," he added.