KARACHI: The local industry has informed the government that Iranian tiles worth Rs12 billion were dumped into the local market in just one year despite some marginal re-valuation by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
While already struggling to survive over huge presence of Chinese tiles, the local industry feels further threatened over heavy influx of Iranian tiles.
The All-Pakistan Ceramic Tiles Manufacturers Association (APCTMA) has informed the FBR Customs’ documents reveal massive arrival of Iranian tiles every month. However, a much bigger quantity smuggled into Pakistan from Iran is not documented.
The association informed the FBR chairman that importers had imported over 3.2 million square metres of tiles from Iran in March 2014 which was the highest ever quantity of tiles imported from one single country in a month.
The importers of Iranian tiles have chosen to smuggle the tiles from Iran in the first place but then opted to illegally import them by way of bringing in multiple truckloads of tiles on one invoice.
These smugglers keep showing just one single invoice to the customs authorities and get the multiple truckloads of Iranian tiles cleared depriving the exchequer of hundreds of millions of rupees in revenue.
Iranian traders offer a cheap rate of various types of Iranian tiles to local traders which are almost 25 to 35 per cent cheaper than local products due to massive theft of duties and taxes by the smugglers.
APCTMA said a number of tiles manufacturing units have been closed down and a few others are considering closing down their tiles making plants.
Only seven manufacturers i.e. Shabbir Tiles and Ceramics, Master Tiles and Ceramics, Karam Ceramics, Emco Industries, Sonex Tiles and Ceramics, Swat Tiles and Ceramics and Frontier Ceramics, are in the competition.
The association claimed that Iranian tiles are being imported at even lower than duties than being paid by the importers on import of Chinese tiles.
Iranian tiles are finding way into the markets with the connivance of customs staff at the dry ports and borders, especially at Taftan.
Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2014