Key points
- Duties on goods that could harm local manufacturing remain unchanged except for cars, iron, and steel
- Government also reduces additional customs duties
- Duty on used mini vans and SUVs also reduced
ISLAMABAD: Authorities in Pakistan have announced a significant reduction in restrictive regulatory duties on imported food, vehicles, and personal care goods.
According to the Express Tribune, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) issued a notification reducing regulatory duties on hundreds of imported items. These changes were approved by the federal cabinet through circulation.
However, duties on goods that could harm local manufacturing remain unchanged — except for cars and iron and steel, the newspaper added.
Customs duties
In a separate notification, the government also slashed additional customs duties, which were previously used as a tool to extract more revenue.
The changes in the regulatory and additional customs duty are part of a broader government plan to abolish these duties over a period of four to five years. International food chains will benefit the most, along with their local consumers, according to the notification.
Regulatory duty on mobile phone SIM cards was reduced from 15 per cent to 12 per cent. Similarly, duty on new cars and mini vans was cut by one-third to 10 per cent.
Federal excise duty
Duty on used mini vans and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) was also decreased. While a Rs10 per chicken federal excise duty has been imposed, the government has cut the import duty on live poultry, according to The Express Tribune.
Regulatory duty on live poultry and fresh or chilled fish (excluding fillets and meat) was halved to 5 per cent. Duty on birds’ eggs was lowered from 15 per cent to 10 per cent, and on imported vegetables to 5 per cent.
Instant coffee in retail packs saw a one-fifth cut, bringing the duty down to 32 per cent.
Dog and cat food now carries 40 per cent duty, also a one-fifth reduction. Tobacco (stemmed or stripped) was cut to 40 per cent.
