January 10, 2006	Tuesday	Zilhaj 9, 1426

ISLAMABAD, Jan 9: The Central Board of Revenue (CBR) has moved a proposal to Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) for removing cooking oil from the negative list of the Afghan Transit Trade Agreement (ATTA).

An official in the CBR told Dawn on Monday that the issue had already been decided and would formally be announced in the forthcoming Pak-Afghan Joint Economic Commission meeting.

The local oil industry, particularly located in the NWFP, might lose its share in exporting the cooking oil to Afghanistan.

Moreover, Pakistan might also witness decrease in the revenue collection as the duty-free imported oil would be smuggled back to the country.

Pakistan had already allowed import of vegetable ghee under the ATTA, the official said, adding that the customs authorities were most of the time withheld containers of ghee on the plea that it was cooking oil.

The government recently removed tyres and tubes, television sets and its parts and telephone sets from the negative list of ATTA bringing the negative list to three items — cooking oil, cigarettes and auto parts –- from 24 items a few years back.