By Commerce Reporter
LAHORE: Pakistan Sugar Mills Association has written a letter to Federal Minister for Finance Muhammad Aurangzeb and Federal Minister for National Food Security Rana Tanveer Hussain that for the past few days, reports have been received from sugar mills located in Punjab and Sindh that the lifting of sugar from the mills is being severely affected due to the closure of the FBR’s S-Track portal.
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In a statement, a PSMA spokesman said that if there is an undue restriction on the supply of sugar, it will lead to shortage of commodity in the market, which will result in an increase in prices. Due to the closure of the S-Track portal during September and the recent week, most mills were unable to dispatch sugar to the markets, which has also led to an increase in prices.
According to reports, for the past several days, most of the sugar mills located in southern Punjab and interior Sindh are not being allowed to send sugar to the market and FBR representatives present in the mills are also systematically stopping the lifting of sugar at the gates of the mills. The repeated closure of the FBR’s S-Track portal has now become a routine that was previously unimaginable.
It has also been revealed that most of the FBR officials responsible for running the portal have disappeared and at some places the passwords of the portal have also been changed. This makes it clear that the portals are being deliberately blocked to facilitate the sale of imported sugar by waiving all duties and taxes worth around Rs. 8 billion, which is unprecedented in the past and is completely illegal. Stopping the lifting of domestic sugar and facilitating the sale of $200 million worth of imported sugar is tantamount to depriving the sugar industry of competition.
The spokesperson further expressed fear that such a policy could lead to severe crisis in the market. Ban on lifting sugar will cause the sweetener to disappear from the market and have caused increase in its prices, for which the industry cannot be blamed. In these circumstances, the government is requested to issue instructions to the FBR’s field formations not to block the portal so that supply of sugar in the market can be ensured.
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