Pak-Afghan body demands duty waiver

Insists relief in duties on raw goods will give boost to exports

LAHORE:

Pak-Afghan Facilitation Committee (PAFC) has demanded that the government waive all duties and taxes, including sales tax, on the import of raw merchandise from Afghanistan in order to boost exports of the country.

In a joint letter written to the federal finance secretary and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairman outlining the budget proposals, PAFC Chairman Riaz Ahmed and its members Abdul Latif Malik and Usman Ashraf urged the government to provide relief for commercial importers in the same manner as given under the Finance Bill 2021 that promised sales tax relief to the registered importers.

They assured the government that if their demands were met, the volume of exports would increase manifold and new jobs and business opportunities would also emerge.

They said that the carpet manufacturing industry was one of the largest cottage industries in Pakistan that fetched hefty amounts of foreign exchange and was a source of employment, especially for the female labour, which could work at home, hence helping the people of rural areas.

However, they lamented that the carpet industry was facing some problems that were creating hurdles to the industry’s progress.

They pointed out that in the previous Finance Bill, the customs duty on the import of semi-finished raw carpets from Afghanistan was waived for the sales tax-registered importers.

The raw merchandise imported from Afghanistan is washed and processed in Pakistan by the skilled labour and all of the finished goods are exported across the world.

Therefore, they stressed, the government should waive the duties without any discrimination on the raw material coming from Afghanistan for the handmade carpet industry.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 2^nd, 2022.

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