The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has withdrawn 20 percent import duty on pesticides, 13 percent import duty on potato and 5 percent regulatory duty on onion. NBR Public Relations Officer Syed A Mumen informed about the issuance of three separate notifications related to Thursday (September 5). This facility will remain in effect till November 30 this year.
Customs duty (CD) on potato has been reduced from 25 percent to 15 percent. Besides, the 3 percent regulatory duty (RD) previously applicable on this product has been completely withdrawn. As a result, the total duty on the product has been reduced by 13 percent.
5 percent regulatory duty or regulatory duty on onion at the import level has been completely withdrawn. On the other hand, 25 percent import duty on pesticides has been withdrawn and fixed at 5 percent. Besides, all regulatory duties and value added tax on the product have been withdrawn.
In a press release, the NBR said that due to the student uprising in July and August and the situation arising in its aftermath, the goods transport system in the country has been disrupted which has not yet fully returned to normal. In addition, the ongoing flood situation in the eastern part of the country is disrupting the transportation of goods. Considering the overall context of the situation, the important stakeholders and concerned ministries have requested the National Board of Revenue to take measures to reduce the prices of essential commodities like pesticides, potatoes and onions.
It is said that, in this context, the National Board of Revenue has taken the initiative to facilitate the importation of the mentioned products through tax exemption and increase the supply.
According to the notification, the reason for the reduction in duty on these products is that potatoes and onions meet the bulk of the country’s total demand through domestic production. Low import duty reduces the countervailing duty on domestic production thereby encouraging farmers to produce potatoes and onions. As a result of the action taken by the National Board of Revenue, the market price of the two mentioned products will remain at a tolerable level. Farmers will continue to be encouraged to produce potatoes and onions in the long run. In the future also the National Board of Revenue will equally strive to play a key role in providing policy support to any state needs and providing the necessary revenue for implementing the development activities of the country.
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