Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Miftah Ismail on Saturday said that the government has issued the SRO needed to reverse the ban on the import of luxury items, adding that the Tariff Policy Board will soon come up with new Regulatory Duty rates that will ensure Pakistan’s limited foreign exchange is spent on essential items.

In a tweet post, Miftah said that in order to meet international obligations, the government issued the SRO,

“The goods stuck at the ports will gradually be released with penalty surcharge of up to 100% of assessed value,” added the finance minister.

“We must live within our means.”

The statement comes after the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Friday approved the lifting of the ban imposed on the import of about 33 classes/ categories of goods covering more than 860 products/ tariff lines.

After the government’s announcement to lift the ban, a summary was moved by the Ministry of Commerce for the approval on prohibition/ complete quantitative restrictions on the import of non-essential and luxury items.

The ministry stated that a ban was imposed on the import of about 33 classes/ categories of goods covering more than 860 products/ tariff lines on 19th May 2022, and trading partners raised serious concern on the ban on import.

The ministry contended that considering the fact that the ban has impacted supply chains and the domestic retail industry, the ECC decided that the ban may be lifted on all the items.

Further, the ECC recommended the release of those held-up consignments that arrived after 30th June up to 31st July 2022 with payment of the surcharge.

In a press conference on Thursday, the finance minister had said that the ban on imports is being lifted as desired by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

However, he added that duties – Regulatory and Customs as well as sales tax – are being increased by as much as three times on the import of CBU items – vehicles, mobile phones, electronics, imported meat and fish, shoe, purses, and packed food items etc – to make their import difficult.

This story was originally published on Business Recorder here.