Confusion over age: Rare waiver for 900 vehicles stranded at port

Government to guarantee Rs2b loan for PIA.

ISLAMABAD:

The federal cabinet’s Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on Tuesday decided to grant a one-time waiver for clearance of 900 vehicles stuck on ports through imposition of penalties.

The commerce ministry informed the ECC in a meeting, chaired by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar that around 900 vehicles of the year 2009 were held up in ports due to confusion over the age of cars.

The issue had come to the finance minister’s notice during a Federal Board of Revenue presentation earlier.

According to a statement, in order to permit the clearance of cars, the ECC has decided to grant a ‘one-time waiver’, where the date of Export General Manifest (EGM) is prior to December 2013.

This waiver will grant clearance for the import of used vehicles manufactured in the year 2009. The ECC also approved the surcharge for the first 8 months beyond the prescribed age limit of 3 years which shall be calculated on rates stipulated by the commerce ministry.

The ECC also approved to extend a guarantee to a private bank for approval of a loan worth Rs2 billion for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). The loan will be utilised to pay installments as well as partial dues of the Pakistan State Oil. The committee also noted that another loan to the tune of Rs3.4 billion was being obtained by PIA from the National Bank of Pakistan against the national flag carrier’s domestic cash flow.

On a summary moved by the commerce ministry for streamlining the procurement of sugar by Trading Corporation of Pakistan, the meeting decided to allow TCP to purchase 75,000 tonnes of sugar in the first month and 50,000 tonnes per month subsequently.

The establishment of a monitoring unit in the ministries of petroleum and water and power was also approved during Tuesday’s meeting which will evaluate the performance of the ministries and submit quarterly reports to the ECC.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th, 2014.