Onions, tomatoes to be imported from Iran, Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Commerce on Tuesday decided to import onions and tomatoes from Afghanistan and Iran to control soaring prices in the country.

Commerce Minister Naveed Qamar took the decision while chairing a meeting at Federal Ministry of Commerce. The minister also reviewed availability of tomatoes and onions in the country. The development took place at the moment when recent torrential rains and flooding have affected the production of vegetables.

The sesion decided to facilitate import of onions and tomatoes from Afghanistan and Iran to meet the demand of these vegetables across the country. The participants said that the country would face shortage of onions and tomatoes in the next three months, adding: “Current flooding has damaged crops and a shortage and hike in prices is expected.”

“Import of tomatoes and onions will help in availability and stabilisation of prices of these vegetables in the country,” the meeting told. The meeting decided that the Ministry of Commerce will work with the national food security ministry and the FBR. The session also decided to get relief in levies and duties on import of tomatoes and onions from the Economic Coordination Committee of the federal cabinet.

Qamar had earlier urged for immediate steps for availability of tomatoes and onions to consumers and stabilisation of the soaring prices of these commodities. The price of onions and tomatoes has touched Rs300 per kg due to shortage of supply in the market owing to recent floods.