Reducing
Cost of Doing Business
Railway
Services
Extra inland freight costs erode
export competitiveness on a range of exports. The cost of transport through roads
is expensive as compared to rail and water. Therefore, a task force will be
established to conduct expeditious work on improving railway services for
exports. The task force will be headed by Secretary Railways and will comprise
Secretaries Commerce, Planning & Development and Board of Investment. While
the Secretariat of the task force will be in the Ministry of Railways, the
funds required for studies/consultancies shall be met from the STPF
allocations. Task Force will submit its report to the Cabinet Committee on
Production & Exports, along with an action plan.
Inland
Water Navigation
A task force will be setup to
conduct expeditious work on improving inland water navigation for exports. This
task force will be headed by the Secretary Water & Power and comprising
Secretaries Ports and Shipping, Commerce, Planning & Development,
Communication, Chairman WAPDA, respective provincial Departments of Irrigation
and Chairman Inland Water Transport Development Company. The Secretariat of the
task force will be in Ministry of Water & Power. The task force will submit
its report to the Cabinet Committee on Production & Exports, along with an
action plan.
Exporters‟
Tax Refund
Lengthy delays and administrative
hurdles in refunds of sales tax as well as other taxes and levies are cited by
exporters as the principal cause of liquidity crunch and increasing their
financial cost of doing business. Accordingly, the payment of all tax refunds
in full will be made expeditiously.
The regulatory amendments in the
Import and Export Policy Orders 2013 have been developed after extensive
consultation with private sector and relevant ministries and government
organizations. These amendments would further facilitate Pakistan‟s trade and
contribute to the ease of doing business by simplifying the procedures and
strengthening the regulatory processes.
a) Import of
Plastic Waste And Scrap
Procedure for import of the
Plastic Scrap is subject to the conditions laid down in the Import Policy Order
2013 including, inter alia, submission of environmental audit report which is
not possible for the units importing for the first time. The aforementioned
condition will, therefore, not apply in case of units importing plastic scrap
for the first time.
b) Import of
Shredded Tyres
Import of waste and scrap of
second-hand/used tyres is allowed in favor of industrial consumers subject to
fulfilment of environmental requirements of using tyres as a fuel as prescribed
by the Federal/Provincial Environmental Authorities. Existing facility is not
extended to Pyrolysis plants. The pyrolysis plants, which are duly registered
with the respective EPAs and FBR, will also be allowed now to import such scrap
subject to the same terms and conditions as are prescribed for industrial
consumers plus environmental audit report.
c) Import of
Air Pistols
Import of air guns is presently allowed. The import
of Air Pistols, and slugs, will also be allowed now.
d) Import of
Aerial Vehicles and Night Vision Goggles
At present, there is no restriction
either on the import of the aerial vehicles with HD Camera and having
high-speed WIFI Transmission capability with ground station or on Night Vision
Goggle. Since these articles could be misused, the import needs to be
regulated. The import of the above mentioned equipment will, therefore, be
allowed subject to the NOC from Ministry of Defence.
e) Import of
3D Printers
of 3D
Printers, the import will, thus, only be allowed with prior permission from the
Ministry
of Interior.
f) Import of
Mobile Phones
In
compliance to the Supreme Court of Pakistan order in suo-moto case No. 16 of
2011, the
terminal equipment such as mobile hand sets and tablets will not be allowed
to be
imported without PTA‟s Type Approval Certificate.
g) Import of
Security Papers
Pakistan
Security Printing Corporation (PSPC) will be exempted from taking NOC
from Security Paper Limited (SPL) for importing security papers for its own
requirement.
h) Import of
Inputs by Manufacturer-Cum-Exporters
The import of inputs reflected in
the restricted list will also be allowed to be imported by
manufacturer-cum-exporter under DTRE, Temporary importation, Bonded Warehouses,
Common Bonded Warehouses and Export Oriented Unit Schemes subject to conditions
mentioned therein.
i)
Import of Specialized Vehicles including Transit
Mixer
The import of second hand/used
specialized vehicles mentioned in the Import Policy Order will be allowed
subject to pre-shipment inspection in the exporting country from any of the
internationally recognized companies listed in the said Order to the effect
that such vehicles are (a) Euro-II compliant, (b) manufactured as such by the
original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and (c) not older than five years.
j)
Import of Pesticides
The import of pesticides will,
inter alia, be allowed subject to prior Pre-Shipment Inspection (PSI)
certification issued by the recognized PSI agencies to be specified by the
Department of Plant Protection.
k) Import of
Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunication (DECT) 6.0 Phone
Digital
Enhanced Cordless Telecommunication Phones (DECT) 6.0 are causing interference
in frequencies allocated with recently launched 3G/4G services across Pakistan.
The import of such phones will be banned to ensure compliance to provisions of
the PTA Act 1996.
l)
Import of Poultry and Poultry Products
The ban on import of poultry and
poultry products will be lifted from South Korea, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia,
Turkey, Greece, Croatia, Italy, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Iraq, Bulgaria, Slovenia,
Slovakia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, subject to certification from
respective veterinary authority of the exporting country that birds are only
from such flocks where no incidence of Bird-Flu has been reported for the last
eleven years.
m) Import of
Plug Wrap Paper
The import of plug wrap paper
will also be allowed to manufacturer of cigarette filter rods, duly registered
with the Federal Board of Revenue. Presently it is only importable by cigarette
manufacturers.
n) Import of
Mercury and Mercury Compounds
At present there is no
restriction on the import of mercury and mercury compounds. Pakistan as
signatory to Minimata Convention on mercury has to phase out its use in the
manufacturing processes till 2020. Its import will be restricted to industrial
consumers having valid environmental approval from the concerned Federal/
Provincial Environmental Protection Agency/Department.
o) Import of
Two or Three Wheeler Auto Vehicles
At present import of two or three
wheeler vehicles is allowed subject to one time certification of each model by
PSQCA that the vehicle conforms to the prescribed Pakistan Standard. The
condition of Euro-II compliance will, therefore, be put in place for import of
these vehicles.
p) Import of
Ozone Depleting Substances
Obtaining authorization for
import of ozone depleting substances from Ministry of Commerce will be
dispensed with. Ministry of Climate Change will however, continue to determine
the quota policy in this regard.
The words “duty free” will be
replaced with the words “exempt from customs duty” provided in the disabled
scheme for import of cars. Furthermore, new three wheeler motor cycles will
also be allowed under the Scheme.
r) Allowing
the re-consignment
The goods rejected or denied
import will be allowed to be re-consigned or returned to the foreign exporter
subject to the laws and regulations pertaining to the trade of contraband
goods.
s) Fireworks
While import of explosives is
allowed on the restricted list of Import Policy Order, import of fireworks is
banned. To remove this anomaly, fireworks will be placed on the restricted
list, with the conditions of compulsory physical examination by explosives
expert and that Department of Explosives of Ministry of Industries shall allow
import only to applicants and companies having valid licenses under the
Explosives Rules, 2010.
t)
Export of Gift Parcels
The export of gift parcels will not include items
borne on the banned list of exports.
u) Export of
Relief Goods to Afghanistan
The humanitarian relief
organizations will be allowed to export goods (excluding banned/ restricted) to
Afghanistan without form-E subject to the provision of encashment certificate
of foreign exchange from authorized dealers.
1.1.1 Standardization
An inter-ministerial working group comprising
Ministries of Science & Technology, Commerce and National Food Security
& Research will be constituted to work on quality standardization and
harmonization of Pakistan standards besides, revision of list of pre-shipment
inspection companies in the Appendix D and H of IPO.
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