April 15, 2008	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 8, 1429

KARACHI, April 14: The Pakistan Tyre Importers and Dealers Association has urged the government to cut import duty and sales tax on tyres to five per cent, withholding tax to two per cent, and remove tyres from the Afghan Transit Trade Treaty list.

At meeting of the importers and dealers on Monday, the association said that prices of tyres were soaring because of the heavy taxes and levies on the legal imports to the tune of 60 per cent (excluding truck tyres) on the C&F value, which was encouraging smuggling of tyres.

In a press release, it said that the smuggled tyres were freely available all over the country.

It said the smuggling of tyres had increased manifold during the last several years, which was hitting the local industry and causing a revenue loss.

The association said there was no check on the smuggling of tyres despite vigilance by several agencies.

It said that the inclusion of tyres in the Afghan Transit Trade Treaty was a major cause of smuggling. Tyres imported for Afghanistan passed through the Karachi Port and after reaching Torkham and Chaman the consignments were easily sent back to Pakistan.