ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on Friday approved 180,000 tons of wheat to be imported from Russia on GTG (Government to Government) basis with a waiver on all taxes and duties.
Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (Passco) has been appointed as the official procurement agency to import wheat from Russia’s United Grain Company and Prodintorg at an import price of $279 per ton. Negotiations initiated on September 5.
The two will come together under a commercial contract after the federal cabinet allows Passco to sign the memorandum of understanding (MoU). The ministry expects that the shipment of wheat will arrive next month.
According to the proposed arrangements, importing wheat would go through quality assurance in Russia and later by the Department of Plant Protection at Karachi port.
According to the ministry, the current position of wheat stocks includes 3,059,219 tons in Punjab, 1,259,395 tons in Sindh, 90,109 tonnes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 65,082 tons in Balochistan and 701,259 tons in Passco.
Minister for National Food Security and Research, Syed Fakhar Imam spoke on Friday that 18 vessels had been booked for 1.092 million tons of imported wheat by the private sector. “Out of these 18 vessels, seven ships carrying 0.432 million tons of wheat have arrived so far,” he said.
He mentioned that the state-run Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) had agreed upon the importation of 0.330 million tons of wheat, expected to arrive between October 2020 and January 2021. He also announced that the next tender of the TCP for 0.3 million tons would be opened on Oct 5.
The ECC also allowed exemption from sales tax on the supply of sugar imported through TCP for up to 300,000 tons.
