Timber imports exempted from phyto certificates

Finance Minister Miftah Ismail has issued orders to release the timber consignments imported from the US and Europe without the provision of phytosanitary certificates from the exporting country.

The orders were formally issued to the finance secretary during a meeting with a delegation of the Karachi Timber Merchants Group (KTMG) on Tuesday.

KTMG Chairman Sharjeel Goplani, who was part of the delegation, told The Express Tribune that the finance minister had made it clear that the consignments of timber would be cleared until December without the phytosanitary certificate. However, only fumigated timber will be cleared by the authorities.

Goplani said that Ismail would review the amendments to the SRO 545 issued in that regard and seek approval from the Cabinet Division for the draft amendments.

During the meeting, the timber importers proposed to reduce the sales tax on imported timber from 15% to 7% in view of Pakistan’s low forest ratio of only 1.57%, but the finance minister disagreed with the proposal, citing that sales tax rates were in line with the IMF programme.

However, he hinted at a possible reduction of 3% in the sales tax rate on timber imports in future.

Earlier, the Pakistan Customs, Department of Plant Protection and Karachi Timber Merchants Association reached a tripartite agreement on the import mechanism for timber and its products.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 29^th, 2022.

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