ISLAMABAD, June 8: The government has proposed reduction of customs duty to zero per cent on import of 24 inputs — materials and accessories used in export oriented textiles, leather and sports industries. A senior customs official told Dawn that in textile, leather, surgical goods and sports goods more than 75 per cent of the duty collected at import stage was repaid to the exporters on export of those items.

The items on which the duty was brought to zero per cent from 25 per cent, 20 per cent, 10 per cent and 5 per cent included — Ethylene glycol (ETHANEDIOL) (MEG); esters of methacrylic acid; Malic acid, AZDN (2-AZOBIS) isobutyronitrile (99pc Min); AMPS (acrylamido methyl propane sulphonic acid); acrylonitrile; wattle extract; basic dyes and preparations based thereon; dyes (maxilon); indigo blue ; teron (spin finish oil); insulation tape, double sided; natural rubber latex, whether or not prevulcanised; natural rubber; leather shearling -finished leather with wool; articles of apparel and clothing accessories of fur skin; artificial fur and articles thereof; printed labels, of paper; yarn spun from silk waste, not put up for retail sale; elastomeric yarn mainly composed of polyurethane (like spandex and lycra excluding other poly-urethane yarn); Fabrics consisting of warp without weft assembled by means of an adhesive (BOLDUCS); flat rolled products of stainless steel, of a width of 600mm or more; forgings of surgical and dental instruments; bladders and covers of inflatable balls and studs.

This year, according to the official, Rs4.205 billion was estimated to be collected at import stage from these items and the estimated rebate payment was Rs3.567 billion.

The official said that this would address the liquidity problems of some exporters and save them from wasting energy in getting their refunds from the tax department.