August 23, 2007

Pakistan's poultry industry blasts government deal with CPF

Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA) Punjab Zone on Tuesday (Aug 22) denounced a supposedly secret deal between the government and Thai poultry company CPF ( Charoen Phokphand Foods).

The association said the deal would damage the local poultry industry extensively.

The Chairman PPA Punjab Zone, Shahid Mehmood Dar said that the recent news that an agreement between Government of Pakistan and CPF has been signed had shocked the local poultry industry.

Pakistan's poultry industry provides jobs for 1.2 million people and poultry accounted for a third of the meat consumption in the country. These would be jeopardized if the chicken behemoth were to enter the country, he hinted.

The chairman of PPA also claimed that the government has leased out 66 acres of land near Lahore to CPF at nominal rates while the MOU has been kept secret.

The land was supposed to be used by the livestock department for research and development purpose, the PPA alleged.

The PPA has called the deal a 'prejudice' and 'discrimination' against the local poultry industry and urged the government not to give land to any foreign poultry companies. The PPA further added that the local poultry industry is currently more than capable of supplying the country's demand.

The government's move to bring foreign direct investment in a sector that was already saturated and still recovering from bird flu was irrational, the PPA charged.