The government and importers are at each other’s throats over the purchase of soybeans, putting the poultry business in the midst of an impending feed crisis.The import stipulation on soybean seeds will have a detrimental effect on Pakistan’s poultry industry, according to Shehzad Ali Khan, President of the All Pakistan Solvent Extractors’ Association (APSEA), who testified before the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Food Security.Soybeans are employed in chicken feed, according to the top executive of APSEA.
The importation of soybean seeds began in 2015. Since October 20 at Karachi’s Port Qasim, nine of our shipments of soybean seeds had been impounded by customs officials.The nation’s poultry business would suffer if the importation of soybean seeds was prohibited, he said.
Tariq Bashir Cheema, the federal minister for national food security and research, answered that since GMO soybean imports are illegal in Pakistan, the cargoes were legitimately detained by customs officials. He maintained that “we will not accept the import of GMO soybean because it causes cancer.”
The law only permits the import of non-GMO soybean, according to Cheema, who also asserted that the US ambassador had contacted him with a similar request. He claimed that the federal cabinet meeting had covered the same subject, and that Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister, has appointed a committee to look into it.
