Presiding over a meeting along with S M Muneer leader United Business Group (UBG) and Shakeel Dingra, chairman standing committee FBR, Arshad Jamal, chairman customs committee said that RD was imposed without consulting trade in a haphazard manner. He said that the taxpayers of Pakistan were also affected by smuggling, high valuation of goods, Custom tariff rate etc.
He said that huge number of containers, which were arrived before the imposition of RD, stuck at ports as traders were reluctant to clear the same at revised customs tariffs, raising port congestion issue besides putting additional financial burden in terms of demurrages on the trade.
Arshad said that the FBR should have given a month to clear all consignments arrived at ports before imposing Regulatory Duty; adding that the imposition of said duty would not generate substantial revenue for the board but open doors for smuggling of goods fallen under RD regime.
Shakeel Dingra said that board should have taken all stakeholders on board before imposing RD; adding that this duty was levied to avoid expanding trade deficit as the country's import was reported to US$52 billion against the exports of US$ 20 billion last year.
He said that the government after witnessing US$15 billion imports (US$5 billion imports per month) during first three months of current fiscal year estimated that the imports figure would surge to US$60 billion by the end of current fiscal year as against the exports anticipated to not more than US$25 billion. Therefore, the RD has been imposed on 731 items to curtail the import bill, he maintained.
He suggested that traders instead of taking harsh decision against the said government decision should initiate deliberations with FBR for excluding industrial items from the ambit of RD regime and offered his support in this regard.Chaudhry Amjad former chairman All Pakistan Customs Agents Association (APCAA), who participated in the meeting via video link along with other members, demanded the authority concerned to allow the clearance of all shipment up to October 12, 2017 or before as per previous rate of taxes in order to avoid creating backlog at ports.
He said that government had no policy and vision for the taxpayers and gave instructions to Arshad Jamal to conduct the meeting of all stakeholders for the solution of these issues and submitted the recommendations to President FPCCI.
Meanwhile, S M Muneer said that representatives from business community were invited to discuss the issues related to RD before its imposition. He said RD was creating adverse impact on the industrial sector, which he termed unjustified. He advised the chairman FPCCI standing committee on customs to constitute a high-powered committee and chalk out a detailed presentation to discuss the issue with the FBR and high government officials. A large number of stakeholders attended the meeting.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017