Inter-ministerial meeting on 'sugar crisis' today

Minister of Industries and Production Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo has convened an inter-ministerial meeting on "sugar crisis" on Thursday after the Federal and the provincial governments' failure to implement the Supreme Court's decision, well-informed sources told Business Recorder on Wednesday.
According to the sources, the Federal Cabinet has agreed that some industrialists and hoarders have formed a cartel and the government has been unable to formulate a strategy so far to break this unholy alliance. "General public across the country is not being provided sugar at Rs 40 per kilogram, which is a clear violation of the apex court's ruling," said one of the consumers standing in a long queue outside a Utility Stores Corporation (USC).
People are forced to queue up for sugar for hours with no guarantee that when they would be able to purchase it. Sugar mill owners claimed that after fixation of 30 percent quota for domestic consumers, they were not indulging in hoarding, and blamed the middlemen for artificial shortage and price hike. Prices, they warned, would shoot up to Rs 60 per kilogram after a couple of weeks in the retail market.
According to official documents, obtained from the Industries Ministry, the Federal Cabinet, in its meeting on September 9, constituted a Cabinet committee, headed by the Finance Minister, to recommend short and long-term strategies for addressing the continuing sugar crisis.
The committee discussed various options and also the modus operandi to implement the orders of the apex court with a view to finding practical solutions and to ensuring the availability of sugar at the doorsteps of the consumers at the rate of Rs 40 per kilogram.
The provincial governments were requested to come up with their methodology or work plans to implement the orders of the Supreme Court. The efforts of the committee, culminated in the "National Sugar Policy for 2009-10," which was presented for approval to the Cabinet on November 4.
The Cabinet was informed that in view of the importance of the problem, the Federal government, the provincial governments, and all other stakeholders, including the growers, the millowners and the consumers were taken on board in the formulation of the sugar policy.
The participants were of the view that the sugar industry needed to be protected, but some industrialists and hoarders had cartelised the system, thus adding to the problems of the cane-growers as well as the consumers. Some of the Cabinet members were of the view that deregulation of sugar imports might provide the best answer to the current sugar crisis.
However, the import of raw sugar to supplement the local sugar production should be delayed till January, 2010 to protect the local cane growers, who deserved protection for increased production of the crop, the documents of the Cabinet meeting said. The Balochistan government, referring to Article 151 of the Constitution, demanded free movement of sugar across the provinces, to address the requirements of the people of the province.
Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif proposed that the sugar content (sucrose) be made the criterion for determining sugarcane prices to protect the farmers against exploitation. He was of the view that sales tax regime for the sugar industry also needed re-consideration, recommending that the sales tax might be calculated on the basis of "capacity" of the mills rather than their "production."
The Cabinet, after an in-depth discussion on the issue, which was participated by all the provincial chief ministers, the relevant Federal ministries and senior civil servants, resolved that availability of sugar to the domestic consumers would be ensured through an equitable pricing policy.
It was reiterated that the policy had to be implemented by the provincial governments, while the policy guidelines would be provided by the Federal government. After a detailed discussion, in the presence of sugar mills representatives, the National Sugar Policy 2009-10 was approved with the direction that the existing committee, headed by the Finance Minister, might co-opt the Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs as member.
Also to be included in the committee was a representative of the consumers, besides any other knowledgeable individual from civil society to further refine the recommendations and develop the implementation mechanism in the light of discussion held during the meeting.
While finalising the decision, the Prime Minister clarified that the subject matter before the committee regarding distribution and pricing was primarily the responsibility of the federating units and Federal government was lending its support for facilitation and maintaining uniformity in operations.