Various commercial and organisations are wary of the decision of the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet by which regulatory duty on the import of various daily-use items has been increased. The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has already issued a notification in this regard, affectingthe prices of imported yogurt, butter,cheese, pineapples, honey, fish, fruit, vegetables and mushrooms in the country. A five percent duty has been imposed on cosmetic items, which range from shampoo, nail-polish, hair-colourto lipsticks while a 10 percent duty has been imposed on the import of electronicgoods, including microwave and electric ovens.At least 15 percent import duty has been imposed on steel products while the tax ratio has also been imposed on exhaust, ceiling and table fans and at least five percent duty has been imposed on gadgets related to satellite dish receivers.
An across the board duty of Rs 200 per set has been imposed on mobile phones while duty on automatic machines has also been increased.According to LCCI Senior Vice President Mian Nauman Kabir, regulatory duty on imported items will put an extra burden of up to Rs 20 billion on the consumers as furnace oil, electric equipment, canned food and metal scrap are not luxury items. He says that imposition of five percent regulatory duty on furnace oil would not only increase power tariff but would also raise cost of production of exportable items.
Looking into opposition to the regulatory duty, one may think that the Pakistan consumers will not be able to live without imported cheese and butter. As a matter of fact, Pakistan is the fifth largest milk producer in the world and produces quality cheese, butter and other dairy items. The country’s indigenous industry is resilient and is capable of surviving in hostile conditions. There is a no need to import items from Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore which are produced in Pakistan and are available at reasonable prices.
In case of furnace oil, the government should revise its decision because the country needs cheap electricity and regulatory duty on furnace oil rather be decreased instead of increasing it. The government must provide tax relief to the local dairy and electronics industry to change the look of Pakistan into goods exporting country rather than keeping it in the zone of goods importing countries. The China has allegedly dumped goods with cheap price tags even in the developed economies. The government should try to keep a balance of trade with Beijing for the protection of the local industry.
