Skimmed milk, dairy products: 100 percent raise

President Society Watch Khalid Mahmood has demanded of the government to increase 100 percent duty on import of skimmed milk and dairy products to safeguard interests of 40 million dairyfarmers in the informal sector otherwise this business will not remain viable for thousands of farmers.In a statement on Sunday Khalid Mehmood said that around 700 million dollars have been invested in the dairy sector in last five years which needed encouragement but government has reduced duty on import of milk from SAARC countries to 15 percent while India has slapped 68percent duty on import of milk.He said the government should also announce relief package for dairy sector reeling under heavy taxes and unfavourable policies.Additional taxes have increased cost of doing business by seven percent, pushed up price of processed milk by Rs 6 per litre and reduced its demand by 20 per cent hurting six hundred thousand farmers linked to business of processed milk, he said.Pakistan is producing around 55 million tonnes ofmilk, production is increasing by 4 pc per annum while demand is increasing by 15 percent annually in the country while the global demand is set to increase by 36 percent in nine years, he said.Pakistan has witnessed closure of 3.5 million dairy farms in the last nineteen years, a trend which must be reversed through intervention, he suggested.News SourceNews Collated byPAKISSAN.com