Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA) has demanded zero-rating tax status for all the processing plants having slaughtering and value-addition units within their premises. Such a move on the part of government will help stabilise prices of poultry products, boost export of Halal products, besides yielding substantial revenue for the national exchequer, the PPA added.
According to PPA, there are world-wide examples of zero-rating for all food production sectors. "Pakistan is the 11th largest broiler producing country in the world, providing 1.02 billion broilers per annum. The 10 larger producers process more then 90 percent of their total live broilers."
The PPA said that a number of processing and value-added units were developed when zero-rating was introduced in 2008, but following withdrawal of zero-rating status, the process of setting up new slaughterhouses has slowed down considerably. Moreover, the cost of production of processed chicken and value-added products had increased manifold following withdrawal of zero-rating facility. The live bird market, being a commodity, entirely depends upon demand and supply and hence sudden increase in demand results into sharp increase in prices, the PPA added.