May 24, 2006	Wednesday	Rabi-us-Sani 25, 1427

KARACHI, May 23: The Chinese bike makers are perturbed over the complaint lodged by one of the leading Japanese bike assemblers with the Customs Evaluation department alleging that the motorcycle parts are being imported from China by the commercial importers and the bike assemblers on ‘under-invoiced’ value.

The value of identical/similar parts is being assessed at different Customs stations at different prices, they said.

Atlas Honda Limited has also submitted a list of specific items wherein the under invoicing is rampant, which is hurting the local manufacturers of these components.

The Customs Valuation has requested collectorates of Customs to check the alleged practice at the time of assessment of such items and discourage clearance of imports suspected of under invoicing.

Some 32 assemblers belonging to a newly formed body of Chinese bike makers – Association of Pakistan Motorcycle Assemblers (APMA) — had met the chief executive officer and vice-chairman of Engineering Development Board (EDB), Imtiaz Rastagar in Islamabad on May 22, to present their point of view.

A Chinese bike assembler said that the association members had informed the EDB official that they had taken up the case with the Customs department in Karachi and Hyderabad which, after assessing the situation, refused to charge high declared value on CKD imports as they thought that they could not act on the complaint lodged by a single Japanese bike assembler.

He said that the local Chinese bike assemblers were facing problems in clearing the spare parts from Lahore where the parts in CKD condition were being evaluated at high rates.

The member added that the EDB vice chairman Imtiaz Rastagar, while assuring the bike assemblers of taking up the issue with the relevant authorities, informed them that they had risen the issue very late.

Meanwhile the AMPA in a letter to Chairman Central Board of Revenue (CBR), Abdullah Yousuf said that every importer and assembler of Chinese bike had different specifications and qualities of the motorcycle parts they import, hence the prices they pay to their principals are also different.

It said that the prices could be verified by the commercial attaché of the Pakistani High Commission in China. However, the Customs officials are assessing the CKD parts on almost four times of the actual price of the components. This has affected the price of the CKD parts which will result in escalation of price of the Chinese bikes.

The Chinese bike makers are now selling 70cc bikes at Rs34,500-38,000 as compared to Rs54,000 by a Japanese bike maker. About one and a half years back, the Japanese bike was available at Rs68,000 and it was the competition that forced the maker to reduce the rate.

The AMPA termed the allegation of Atlas Honda as false saying that it will discourage the new comers in the bike assembling because of wrong evaluation of motorcycle parts by the Customs.

The association urged the CBR to direct the Customs collectorates to evaluate the CKD parts on the value declared by the manufacturers.

Currently, around 42 companies approved by the EDB roll out cheap Chinese bikes in the country. As many as 10 new assemblers will enter the market this year.