May 30, 2002	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 17,1423

ISLAMABAD, May 29: The government is likely to include black tea in list of notified goods within the meaning of smuggling from the next fiscal year.

Official sources told Dawn on Tuesday that black tea was not included in the list of notified goods, which could attract the smuggling related provisions of the customs act.

Currently, the officials said that if a smuggler was caught, he/she could not be prosecuted due to exclusion of black tea from the ambit of notified goods.

The officials said that the decision would enable the seizing staff to invoke clause (8) and (89) of section 156 (1) of the Customs Act 1969, for curtailing the menace of tea smuggling.

Black tea is a major item of consumption in the country, which is imported on payment of duty and taxes with an average incidence of 40 per cent.

But, the officials said due to porous border with Afghanistan, black tea imported in that

country got smuggled into Pakistan.

This results in under invoicing of value by importers so that imported tea could not compete with smuggled tea in the market.

The government had already notified 33 items in the list of smuggled goods.

The government is likely to make amendments in SRO491 issued on May 23, 1985, in the next financial year.