The Punjab, Pakistan provincial government has increased its control over the wheat and flour supply chain, including who can purchase wheat and how it is priced, reported, and inspected.
The policy aims to crack down on hoarding, stabilize pricing, and encourage a consistent supply of wheat and flour enters the market. These changes are intended to create more transparency and ensure consumers and producers have equitable access to the market, and to release wheat from government stocks to flour mills, allowing flour distribution to be monitored.
According to the policy, only approved, currently operational flour mills are able to receive wheat from government stocks. The wheat is released to these mills after an advance payment is made and verified by the local government. Officials explained that the release of the wheat stock will follow a priority system, first releasing private stocks stored in the open, then open stored stocks stored at government locations, then stocks in privately owned covered locations, and finally stocks in government owned private locations.
Flour mills using the allocated wheat stocks are required to a flour, fine, and bran ratio of 70:18:12 and must report daily data on wheat procurement, milling, and sales.