The Cabinet’s Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) has authorized mills in Sindh to export 32,000 metric tons of sugar.
ECC Meeting on Sugar Export
The ECC meeting on Friday was presided over by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. According to sources, the Ministry of Commerce asked ECC to permit the export of the final 32,000 MT of sugar within 60 days starting on June 12 in order to comply with the ruling by the Sindh High Court.
The distribution of 250,000 MT of artificial sweetener among the mills in Punjab, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was authorized by the federal government.
Due to litigation before the Sindh High Court, the distribution of export quota for mills in Sindh was postponed.
However, the Sindh High Court permitted the Cana Commissioner Sindh to distribute 48,000 MT of the 80,000 MT total quota to the 32 mills in its judgement dated 9-03-2023.
The Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) petitioned this Ministry to request permission for mills that received payments but were unable to export within the allotted period to export the final 2,861 MT.
The remaining artificial sweetener export quota through to July 15th, 2023, was authorized by the ECC of the Cabinet during its meeting on June 21, 2023.
The Sindh High Court has an inter-alia hold that the “Federal government, SBP and all relevant authorities including but not limited to Customs and Port authorities shall also facilitate the expeditious export of sugar to be exported by mills including condoning the expiration of any deadline previously set for the export of the entire allocated quantity of 80,000 MT and to be exported by the sugar mills by virtue of either the order passed on the basis of this Joint Statement or the order dated 09-03-2023”.
The Ministry of Commerce asked the Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MNFSR) to call a meeting of the Sugar Advisory Board (SAB) on June 9, 2023, after receiving the SHC’s order, so that the SAB could discuss the initial proposal to permit the export of 250,000 MT.
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