NA panel probes sugar price, tobacco woes
The National Assembly Standing Committee on National Food Security on Friday underscored the importance of investigating the causes behind the sugar price hike and exploring possible measures for market stabilisation and consumer relief.
The committee met here with Syed Tariq Hussain in the chair.
Committee Member Zulfiqar Ali raised the issue of sugar prices and urged the chair to include it in the next meeting's agenda. He said that the industry reaped Rs300 billion in profits, while consumers suffered losses.
"Farmers and consumers have suffered losses. This matter should be included in the upcoming [meeting's] agenda," Ali said. Later, the committee decided to include the sugar price issue on the agenda for its next meeting.
The committee discussed the issues facing tobacco growers. The committee was informed that Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) officials had been appointed to 23 tobacco companies to monitor tobacco. The chair underscored the importance of increasing tobacco cultivation.
"If we look at the region, the world has gone far ahead at the policy level," Tariq told the committee. "The world has come a long way in the use of drones and other technologies in the farming sector," he said. "We need support at the policy-making level."
The committee was informed that general sales tax (GST) was imposed on cigarettes, not on tobacco. It was also informed that approximately Rs949 million allocated for research and development remains unutilised due to the vacant director position at the Pakistan Tobacco Board (PTB).
The chair instructed the ministry to expedite the appointment to all vacant posts at the PTB and its related committees so that the pending development and reform initiatives could move forward without any delay.
The meeting was updated on key areas, including the current tobacco taxation policy, the framework for collection and utilisation of the cess fund over the past 10 years, the PTB's corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, and the potential introduction of a crop insurance scheme for tobacco growers.
The committee was informed that the PTB had constituted committees to oversee cess regulation, CSR programmes, and development activities. However, the committee raised concerns over the exclusion of tobacco growers from these bodies.
In response, the committee directed the ministry to ensure that representatives of tobacco growers are included in all relevant committees, stressing that meaningful reform and facilitation measures could not succeed without their direct involvement.
The committee also held a detailed discussion on reports of donkey meat being sold in Islamabad, expressing serious concern over the public health risks and regulatory negligence.
The ministry was instructed to take up the issue with the relevant authority and report back in the next meeting.
During a presentation by CropLife Pakistan, the committee was informed that the organisation's mission was to support farmers in producing enough food to meet the needs of a growing population through access to innovative agricultural technologies. (WITH INPUT FROM APP)
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