ISLAMABAD: In the latest twist in the saga of soybean seeds stuck at Port Qasim, the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) has thrown their hat into the ring, recommending that the nine ships stuck in Karachi be released within the next week because of the problems being faced by the poultry sector.
Nine consignments of soyabean seeds have been stuck-up at Port Qasim for a few days now, with the first two of the consignments arriving back on the 20th of October. The FTO had taken suo-moto notice of the issue after the Directorate of Intelligence and Investigation (I&I) Customs, Karachi and Department of Plant Protection (DPP) held the shipments.
In early November, a reliable source in the the Plant Protection Department (DPP) of the Ministry of Food Security and Research said the shipment had been stopped over the issuance of a certificate by the ministry of climate change.As time went on, more shipments joined the two original shipments. As the shipments continued to languish, the confusion between the food security ministry and the ministry of climate change reached a crescendo near the end of November. At least six vessels containing valuable oilseeds important for Pakistan’s food security continue to be stuck at Port Qasim amid ambiguity and confusion. Three more have now arrived, tying up oilseeds vital to edible oil and poultry feed worth nearly $300 million.
On Thursday, the FTO office held a detailed hearing on the case at the FTO Secretariat wherein officials of the Revenue Division; Ministry of Food Security and Research; secretary Ministry of Climate Change; director general Directorate General of Intelligence and Investigation-Customs; Chief Customs (F&C), Federal Board of Revenue, and Pakistan Poultry Association were in attendance. The FTO heard the viewpoint of all the stakeholders and issued a release order in this regard on Friday and sought a compliance report within seven days.
During the course of hearing, the Directorate of Intelligence and Investigation (l&l) Customs categorically conveyed to the FTO that the agency has not stopped the imported consignments but only passed on the information to the concerned Department of Plant Protection (DPP) and asked DPP to ensure that any health hazard material should not be cleared under the name of imported soybeans. And, the poultry industry advocated consequences of non-availability of imported feed i-e soybean seeds, saying there is no alternative of soybean or soybean meal for the poultry feed and further delay in clearance of the imported consignments would result in a severe shortage of chicken and eggs in the country while the poultry farms will have to shut down their operations across the country.
According to the FTO’s five recommendations, the federal government should give immediate written directions to the Secretary, M/o Climate Change under Rule 27 of the Biosafety Rules, 2005, to issue approval of deliberate release on one time basis as a special case under the provisions of Rules 20(2) of ibid on provision of assurance and undertakings from the importers/complainant and relevant stakeholders. Similarly, on issuance of a one-time deliberate release order from M/o Climate Change, under Rule 20(2) of the Biosafety Rules, 2005, the DG DPP, Karachi to issue release orders of the nine stuck-up consignments of soybeans seeds at Port M. Qasim, Karachi. Likewise, Collector, Collectorate of Customs, Port M. Bin Qasim, Karachi, on receipt of Release Order from DPP, Karachi, immediately processed the GDs (goods declarations) of the stuck-up consignment of soyabean and issued out of charge orders on a one-time basis, securing the stuck-up revenue as per law.
AS per FTO findings, this situation needs to be immediately resolved inter alia to save the much precious foreign exchange paid by Pakistani importers to the tune of millions of US$ as 110 million has already been remitted while the remainder US$ 335 million is committed through established LCs, in addition to the cost of cargo, the delay is causing the importers around US$ 40,000 per day vessel, which totals to amount US$ 360,000 per day in vessel demurrage, to avoid poultry products shortage and to avoid an apparent immense escalation of eggs and poultry products prices which are used by the people of Pakistan as economical but good quality protein source in their diet.
