KARACHI: The All-Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) has urged the government to either place Iranian cement in the negative list or clamp dumping charges to help the local industry regain its share.

Cement smuggling from Iran in Balochistan is causing substantial loss to the national exchequer. “The government has to take immediate steps to curb this menace,” said a spokesman for APCMA in a statement.

The average imports of Iranian cement into Balochistan from March 15 to April 16 stood at around 500-600 tonnes daily.

He said misdeclaration is rampant which is putting local industry in a difficult situation, whereby it pays taxes and duties under third schedule in strict compliance of rules and regulations while the imported and smuggled cement enjoys huge advantage.

Industry wants placement of cement in negative list

Two road trailers entered Pakistan via Taftan border on April 16, and while they were carrying 105 and 52 tonnes of cement, the tax was paid on 90 and 45 tonnes only, he said.

All this was being done with the collusion of dealers by the Customs department officials and transporters. The import quantity on the customs’ Goods Declaration Form was understated as well, he added.

On the contrary, the local industry pays approximately Rs2,000 per tonne to national exchequer in the form of excise duty and sales tax.

The illegal import of cement from Iran is detrimental to cement sector of the country and has further raised concerns of cement industry, as on one hand the idle capacity is increasing due to foreign imports and on the other, the prices in different markets are being badly affected due to tax evasions and misdeclarations, he said.

Published in Dawn, May 17th, 2015

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