Due to rise of the price of raw materials, advance income tax and corporate tax, the poultry industry is in jeopardy. The prices of corn, wheat, rice have risen along with medicines while the entrepreneurs in this sector are spending days in fear. They are saying that unless changes are carried out, the sector will face a predicament.
Poultry businessmen have requested tax exemption till 2030. A trader of broiler chicken says that unless the prices of medicines and food are reduced the impact will be felt on the price of broiler chicken.
Those involved in poultry industry say that the contribution of the industry is more than 2 percent in the GDP with more than Tk 300 billion investment and a yearly turnover of Tk 350-400 billion. Around 6 million people are indirectly linked to the industry, of which, 40 percent are women.
As per International Food Policy and Research Institute (IFPRI) an adult person should take 104 eggs on average per year but adults in the country eat only 50-60 eggs. At present, around three crore eggs are produced in the country and to ensure 104 eggs per adult, we need to produce an additional 15 million eggs.
President of Feed Industries Association Bangladesh (FIAB) Ehtesham B Shahjahan, said that due to advance tax on poultry feed, import of raw materials has become complicated with the development of a crisis in capital.
General Secretary of the organization, Ahsanuzzaman, added: “The raw materials have to be imported; to ensure uninterrupted supply of eggs, milk and meat, tax needs to be withdrawn.”