June 10, 2003	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 9, 1424

KARACHI, June 9: The chairman, Pakistan Soap Manufacturers’ Association (PSMA), M. Yaqub Karim has said the government has ignored soap makers in the budget.

The Budget maker had not taken any step to control smuggling and heavy under-invoicing of imported finished soap, soap noodles and detergents. It was very challenging for the soap industry to survive in this environment, he said.

In a statement, he said this menace had been depriving the government of billions of rupees in shape of evasion of various levies. The local industry could not compete as the smuggled products were available at dirt cheap prices in the market.

He also pointed out that customs duty on primary raw material for soap was 10 per cent to 50 per cent whereas on finished soap and noodles, it was only 25 per cent. The Article of WTO clearly states that there should be a cushion of at least 20 per cent between the duties on raw material and finished products as a result of which the duties on raw material should have been a maximum of five per cent.

So the rate of customs duties on basic raw materials, which are not produced in Pakistan, must be reduced to five per cent immediately. Yakub Karim said that the current budget is not up to the expectations of the local industry and it is unlikely to benefit general public.

He termed the budget imbalance, which provided no immediate relief in the duties of raw materials for soap. He said that correcting the anomaly must be the core motives of the government in order to protect local industry.