PSMA seeks end to sugar crisis

The Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) has urged the government to take the stakeholders of sugar industry into confidence to put an end to ongoing sugar crisis in the country. A meeting of the central PSMA executive committee was held here on Wednesday with its Chairman Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf in the chair. Representatives of sugar industry from Punjab, Sindh, and NWFP attended the meeting, which discussed the sugar crisis and the impact of Economic Co-ordination Committee's (ECC) decision on sugar import.
The meeting expressed concern over the ECC's decision, allowing unlimited duty-free import of sugar. It asked the government to hold meeting with PSMA representatives to tally the production figures so that the country does not fall into the trap of other countries, that could dump their surplus sugar into Pakistan.
Expressing concern over high prices of sugarcane in the country, the meeting noted that heavy sugarcane prices have increased the production cost of sugar per ton abnormally.
Addressing the meeting, Zaka hoped that interaction between the PSMA and the authorities concerned would enable the government to assess real consumption level of sugar in the country, besides mitigating the ongoing communication gap between the two sides. Only a mutual co-operation between the two sides could help resolve the issue on permanent basis, he added.
The participants of the meeting urged the government to only allow a fixed quantity of shortfall sugar in co-ordination with the PSMA.
They also called upon the government to allow duty-free sugar to importers through letters of credit (L/Cs) only. This step would make the government's monitoring system effective through the State Bank, which would not be possible otherwise, they added.
The participants also criticised the abolition of withholding tax for the importers, and termed it a discriminatory act against the sugar industry.
Under the ECC's decision, the importers would be exempted from the withholding tax, which are already not paying income tax; they said, adding that such an arrangement would negate a level playing field to the sugar industry that may play havoc with it as well as growers in the longer run.
Zaka also appealed to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to hold a meeting with the PSMA immediately so that joint strategy is evolved to overcome the sugar crisis in the best interests of the consumers, sugarcane growers, and the industry.