Islamabad:
Taking the recent increase in sugar prices of a “sugar scandal”, the Public Accounts Committee (CAP) has toasted the president of the Federal Board of Rété (FBR) and the Secretary for National Food Safety on Sugar Exports, imports and changes in rights.
During the meeting chaired by Junaid Akbar Khan, PAC members raised serious questions about the management of the sugar trade policy. President Khan criticized the inconsistency of the FBR, declaring: “Regarding public difficulties, the FBR blame the IMF. But when it concerns investors, they do not even bother to follow the directives of the IMF.” He added that some investors seem to receive industrial advantages.
Khawaja Shiraz, a member of CAP, questioned as part of the mechanism that 750,000 tonnes of sugar were exported. In response, the president of the FBR, Rashid Langrial, said that such decisions were made by the cabinet according to the recommendations of the Ministry of Food. He added that the FBR had simply implemented the firm’s directive to abolish customs duties by 20% on sugar imports and reduce the sales tax by 18% to 0.25%. The early tax was also reduced from 5.5% to 0.25%, he said.
The PAC member, Naveed Qamar, asked why the government had not settled the prices of sugar and questioned the role of the competition commission in the verification of the alleged cartelization. “Who allowed the sugar cartels to take the market?” He asked.
Moin Amir Pirzada noted that neither Murad Ali Shah in the Sindh nor Maryam Nawaz in Punjab seemed to have the power to act against sweets. He proposed that sugar factory licenses are liberalized so that anyone can create a mill, breaking the monopolies.
Asked about the representation of the sugar advisory council, the food secretary confirmed that if all stakeholders were represented, there was no consumption representation. Pirzada criticized the omission, asking how a board of directors could be considered representative if it excluded consumers most affected by price increases.
