October 22, 2002	Tuesday	Sha’aban 15,1423

ISLAMABAD, Oct 21: The National Tariff Commission (NTC) has launched an investigation into the request from Carrier Telephone Industries (Pvt) Limited (CTI), the sole manufacturer of electronic systems in Pakistan, for protection from cheap electronic goods imported from abroad, according to an official source.

While calling for rationalization of tariff structure and protection through lower import duty on inputs, the applicant industry has stated that it was producing multiplexing system, optical fibre terminal equipment, optical fibre networking system, digital pair gain system falling, digital radio system, VHF radio system, private automatic branch exchange, automatic call distribution system and high performance parabolic antenna.

These products are essential for use in series of apparatus for the transmission and reception systems used by the media for voice/data transmission among different operators at different destinations. This equipment is not manufactured by any other industrial unit in Pakistan.

At present, raw materials, sub-components/components and modules/sub-assemblies used by the electronic industry as inputs are subject to customs duty at the rates of 5, 10 and 20 per cent, respectively. The finished products are imported at 25 per cent customs duty.

The applicant, in this regard, contends that the indigenous industry was unable to survive at this duty structure.

The NTC has invited all the interested parties to send their views and suggestions with duly substantiated data to the secretary of Commission within 10 days. Subsequently, it will hold a public hearing on the CTI’s request in its office on November 5 at 11 a.m.