ISLAMABAD: Pakistan keeping in view the bilateral relations with the State of Qatar has decided to give permission to the Qatar Embassy to re-export the seized vehicles by the Directorate General Customs intelligence and investigation Rawalpindi.
Pakistan Foreign office in reply to a show-cause notice has proposed to the Collector of Customs Adjudication Islamabad that ‘keeping in view our bilateral relations it is proposed that we may give a timeline of two months to the Embassy of Qatar to re-export these vehicles back to Qatar’.
Pakistan foreign office has stated that Pakistan Customs Tariff (PCT) Code allows duty-free import for personal vehicles for the projects undertaken by the dignitaries listed in PCT 9905. Ministry of Foreign affairs issued exemption certificates for duty-free import of personal vehicles of the listed dignitaries.
However, MOFA does not mention PCT code in the exemption certificate. In terms of Para of PCT 9905, MOFA can also recommend duty-free import of vehicles and cargo for the dignitaries not listed in the said list. Dignitaries from the Gulf countries also visit Pakistan every year for hunting of Houbara Bustard.
And these dignitaries are generally facilitated in terms of logistics and security. Since PCT 9905 does not restrict the number of vehicles to be imported and the time duration too, some of the vehicles imported under this code are stationed in Pakistan since long.
The vehicles under question (21 numbers) imported after getting approval from competent authority at MOFA and Prime Minister. There is no discrepancy involved in duty-free import of these vehicles. And later in 2016 name of the dignitaries were also included in the list of PCT 9905.
