Temporary removal of maize cess proposed

By Shezna Shums

The Ministry of Agriculture is proposing a temporary removal of the cess on maize imports to help bring down the high cost of maize in the local market and aid the local poultry and egg industries.

Maize costs in Sri Lanka are currently very high given the shortage in the market.

Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture S. Amitiyagoda said that rains during the early part of this year had caused damage to local maize cultivations, which had resulted in a market shortage.

“We hope that the local maize prices will come down,” said Amitiyagoda.

Maize is one of the main components of poultry feed and increasing maize costs will in turn increase the prices of poultry and eggs in the local market.

The initiative to temporarily remove the maize tax comes in the wake of the upcoming Sinhala and Tamil New Year, which normally sees an increasing demand for chickens and eggs.

Large quantities of maize are usually imported from India to meet local demand. Despite the increase in local maize cultivations to meet this demand, the recent rains had destroyed these cultivations.

The Ministry of Agriculture hopes the removal of the cess on maize imports will be effective until the Yala season, by which time local maize will be adequate to supplement the demand.

The Additional Secretary said that a tonne of maize costs US$ 300 and the cess is about 35 per cent of this cost.

The high cost of imported maize was one of the main reasons which saw the costs of chicken remaining high and high maize costs resulted in a higher cost of production for chicken.

The proposal by the Agriculture Minister Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena is to temporarily remove the cess and other taxes on imported maize to help bring down the current high cost.

The Ministry of Agriculture stated that the purchase price of maize would be Rs. 32 and sales price of maize given to factories that make animal feed would be Rs. 35 and that this would be the limited price allowed per kilo of maize.

The Ministry noted that this move was being taken to protect the wellbeing of local poultry farmers and maize and animal feed producers.

The rains and floods that the country experienced during the early part of this year caused extensive damage to local maize cultivations.

The meeting at the Ministry of Agriculture was between the Minister, Ministry officials and farmer associations.

The Sinhala and Tamil New Year is one period when the demand for chicken and eggs among other things is high.

Previously during the Christmas season, the Government had to import chicken and eggs as the demand saw costs shoot up. One of the crucial elements that affect the final price of chicken and eggs is the cost of production and maize is a major component of the cost involved in this regard.