Sugar association opposes new legislation

LAHORE: Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (Punjab Zone) has termed legislation by Punjab Assembly black law for sugar mills.

Imprisonment term has been increased from one year to three years while fine increased from Rs1 lakh to Rs5 lakh, a spokesperson of PSMA said here on Wednesday. The recent amendment in the Punjab Sugar Factories Control Act, 1950 has turned it into the strictest law for the sugar industry, he claimed.

Under this amendment, he added, trial of the accused will be held before a section 30 magistrate’s court instead of an ordinary magistrate’s court. Not only that, he continues to say, but recently the Sugar Supply Chain Management Order 2021 has been introduced to regulate the sugar industry, which is another black law that could be a prelude to the closure of a business.

We have repeatedly convinced the government that imposing such discriminatory laws and criminal regulations on the sugar industry can never be beneficial. It could have dangerous consequences in the distant future. In an effort to control the sugar industry by government officials, the mills would be hard to run and investment in the country would not flourish. Investors will be scared and the country's business climate will not be healthy, the spokesperson said.