ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet has approved amendments in the Sales Tax Special Procedure Rules 2007 to provide for (i) allowing exploration and production companies serving as operators in a petroleum concession area to transfer proportionate input tax to other working interest owners and (ii) exclusion from extra tax chargeable under Rule-58T of Sales Tax Special Procedure Rules 2007 on supply of lubricants to and by lubricating oil marketing companies registered with OGRA to registered manufacturers for in-house consumption.
Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi chaired a meeting of the federal cabinet at the Prime Minister House. The cabinet also approved the appointment of Qurban Ali Khan as Member Technical in Customs Appellate Tribunal (CAT) Peshawar, Saud Imran Ahmed in CAT Bench-I Lahore and Dr. Zulfiqar Ahmed Malik in CAT Bench-I Karachi.
The meeting ratified minutes of the meetings of Economic Coordination Committee held on November 1, 2017, November 13 and 28th of November 2017. Minutes of the meetings of Cabinet Committee on CPEC held on November 9, 2017 and November 17, 2017 were also ratified by the cabinet. The cabinet accorded permission, in principle, to sign the revised Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Ministry of Employment and Labor of the Republic of Korea on sending and receiving of workers under the Employment Permit System.
The meeting approved amendment in the Schedule of FIA Act-1974. The amendment aims at bringing the offences of blasphemy and pornography in the ambit of Prevention of Electronic Crime Act-2016. The meeting observed that the directives issued to PEMRA to off-air and later on-air transmission of private TV channels on November 25, 2017 and November 26, 2017 respectively as policy directives of the Federal government. The meeting accorded ex-post facto approval to the two directives.
The federal cabinet granted ex-post facto approval to the appointment of Muhammad Arshad Khan Jadoon as Chairman Implementation Tribunal for Newspaper Employees (ITNE) and also approved granting of MP-1 scale for him. The appointment has been made for two years. Resignation of Ali Suleman Habib as Director PIACL Board was approved. The cabinet approved the appointment of Rear Admiral Zaka-ur-Rehman SI (M) as Director General Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA).
The amendment in the Guidelines of Prime Minister’s Global SDGs Achievement Programme was also approved. The meeting also granted ex-post facto approval to the formation of National Implementation Committee on FATA Reforms. Minister for Defence and Corp Commander 11 Corp have been included in the high level implementation committee. The cabinet approved Medical Devices Rules-2017 in lieu of Rules-2015. Haj Policy and Plan 2018 was also presented before the Federal Cabinet. While deciding not to increase Haj dues this year under the Government Haj Scheme, the federal cabinet granted the policy, in principal, with certain amendments.
The Minister for Religious Affairs would hold a press briefing to highlight the salient features of Haj Policy 2018.
