Faced with rising food prices that have seen protesters take to the streets, Afghanistan's lower house of parliament on Thursday demanded the removal of all taxes on food imports. In an special session, parliament said the government had not done enough to curb soaring prices or act against hoarding by some traders, the house said.
Landlocked Afghanistan is one of the world's poorest countries with half its 25 million people living below the poverty line. The government taxes virtually all food imports to some degree.
"In the session, it was decided that the government should exempt food commodities from taxes," parliament said in a statement. The decision needs to be approved by the upper house of parliament and the president for it to come into force.
Wheat prices in Afghanistan have risen by an average of 60 percent over the last year with certain areas seeing a rise of up to 80 percent, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates Afghanistan's total wheat import needs in 2007/08 at 550,000 tonnes, including 100,000 tonnes of food aid.
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