All Pakistan Fruit & Vegetables Exporters Importers & Merchants Association has urged the government to approach Government of Sri Lanka to either open Free Trade Agreement (FTA) for the full year or at least relax the tariffs by withdrawing CID and cess so that Pakistani potato could be competitive in the Sri Lankan market.
The association said that Sri Lanka is the largest import market for Pakistani potato, but since last year, Sri Lankan government has imposed substantial tariffs on potato imports.
These include CID at SR 20 per kg, cess at 10 percent of CID, VAT at 15 percent of total invoice value, PAL at 1 percent of invoice value, etc, Association Chairman Haji Muhammad Yusuf Abdul Rahman said in a statement on Tuesday.
Pakistan annually produces about 2 million tonnes of potato and a major portion of the crop, about 85 percent, is harvested as autumn crop during mid-December to mid-March.
However, January and February are peak harvest months. Against two million tonnes production, the annual export from Pakistan ranges between 50,000 tonnes to 75,000 tonnes.
Sri Lanka is the largest import market for Pakistani potato, which absorbed 60 percent followed by Afghanistan 20 percent and Malaysia 15 percent, while the remaining 15 percent were exported to different states of the Gulf.
However, imposition of high tariffs by Sri Lanka, which exceeds the value of goods and 6 percent commission paid to Sri Lankan traders renders export less competitive and, thus, adversely impact the total exports.
Pakistan has signed FTA with Sri Lanka, which allows duty-free export of 1,000 tonnes potatoes per annum, but has been limited to June-July and October-November.-PR