Ahmed Khan Malik

The meat exporters in Karachi have sought incentives to increase exports. 

Stakeholders in the sector told WealthPK that Pakistan still lagged behind other countries in terms of meat exports. They demanded that the government extend them incentives like soft loans and subsidies to enter new markets. The meat exporters said they should be provided land on lease for breeding and fattening of animals. Pakistan currently exports meat and meat products worth $500 million annually. Rizwan Umar, a meat exporter, said that the government should immediately put a ban on slaughtering female animals and ensure strict compliance as the practice was threatening the future supplies of animals. “Such a ban should be enforced across the country.” He also requested setting up quarantine offices at all airports, dry ports and seaports working round the clock, and increasing the manpower in the quarantine department.

Umar said that the government should either ban or put some limitations on the export of animal feed to help bring down the rising cost of livestock. He also demanded subsidised energy tariffs as meat could not be exported without freezing, which was a major input cost. He said the government should abolish sales tax on branded retailed packed meat products as this segment was becoming uncompetitive against the informal/undocumented sector. Ahmed Mansoor, another meat exporter, said that Pakistan was endowed with one of the largest livestock populations in the world, from which an immense export potential for meat products was yet to be derived.

“An estimated population of 94 million bovine animals and 112 million goats and sheep are currently on the Pakistani territory.”  He noted that livestock in Pakistan was mainly reared by smallholder farmers for dairy production, with an estimated 35 million people and more than 8 million families engaged in rural subsistence livestock production. “Livestock is by far the most important subsector of agriculture, contributing more than 60% of the total agricultural economy in 2020-21.”  Mansoor said that the country was also one of the largest meat producers in the world, mainly catering to the domestic market needs, with less than 3% of the 2.2 million tonnes of cattle meat produced being destined for international markets. 

He pointed out that meat exports from Pakistan were largely concentrated in the fresh or chilled market segment, and more particularly in the carcasses and half carcasses category. “This is in direct contrast with the global trends and the increasing demand for frozen meat cuts,” he said. The meat exporter said that exports from the sector were primarily limited to Gulf states, taking advantage of its capacity to supply these markets with affordable halal chilled meat at relatively competitive transportation costs. “Pakistani meat has a lot of acceptance in Gulf countries due to a large expatriate population, in particular in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.”

Credit: INP-WealthPk