January 4, 2003	Saturday	Shawwal 30, 1423

ISLAMABAD, Jan 3: The government is likely to extend the SRO 410 for at least one year. The SRO was due to expire on December 31, 2002, said a senior official.

A senior official in the commerce ministry told Dawn on Friday that the issue was under consideration of the ministry and comments have been sought from the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) over the issue.

According to the official, following the comments received from the CBR, the issue would be placed before the next meeting of Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet for consideration.

The CBR was of the opinion that the exporters should avail the facility of no-duty and no-drawback scheme annouced in 2001 rather demanding extension in the SRO.

They further feared that in case the facility was extended then no person would opt for the DTRE scheme.

Tax authorities have asked the businessmen to come up with their proposals and suggestions rather asking for further extension in time bound facilities to make further amendments in the DTRE rules so that they could make maximum advantage out of this scheme, said the official.

The official said that the CBR was planning to make the scheme more user-friendly so that maximum exporters could avail the facility.

The temporary importation scheme under SRO410 was due to expire by December 31, 2002, which was effective from August 7, 1998.