The CCP has issued show cause notices to 18 poultry feed mills for prima facie engaging in cartelisation and collusive price fixing practices prohibited under Section 4 of the Competition Act 2010, reports Daily News of Pakistan.

Eighteen poultry feed mills have been asked to submit their written arguments within 15 days and appear before the Commission on 23 and 24 November 2010. All these mills are members of Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA).

These show cause notices come in the aftermath of the recent 50 million-rupee fine imposed by the CCP on the PPA for the formation of cartels in the poultry industry.

Pakistan's poultry industry comprises several sectors that are interconnected, having stake in each other, according to Daily News. The different sectors include feed manufacturers, breeders, hatcheries, broiler farms and layer farms. Feed manufacturers use agri-based produce and by-products to make various feeds which are fed as diet to chickens bred by breeders, hatcheries and farmers. Breeders use grandparent pure-line stock strains to produce parent stock strains of chickens, which in turn supply eggs to hatcheries. Hatcheries use eggs provided by breeders to produce day-old chicks, which are then raised on farms for their meat and eggs and are sold to broiler and layer farms. Broiler farms purchase day-old chicks from hatcheries and raise a breed of chicken, known as the broiler, which is meant for chicken meat production. Layer farms, on the other hand, purchase day-old chicks from hatcheries and raise a breed of chicken known as the layer, which lays eggs for human consumption.