ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Wednesday issued SRO 1640(I)/2019 to operationalise the second phase of China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

The board in order to implement the agreed protocol, after thorough deliberations with the Ministry of Commerce transposed the offer list and developed the SRO, said a statement issued by the FBR.

The China Pakistan FTA Phase-II will operationalise vide SRO 1640 (I)/2019 from Jan 1 and supersede the old SRO 659(I)/2007.

The tariff elimination schedule/offer list shared by the commerce ministry is divided under the categories A0, A7, A15, MOP1, MOP2, C1 and C2.

The customs duties in 3,251 tariff lines in the A0 category will be eliminated entirely and such goods shall be free of customs duty from Jan 1.

In the category A07, the duty structure will be tapered towards elimination from year two to year seven and in category A15, the duty structure will be tapered towards elimination from year four to year 15.

Under the margin of preference (MOP), MOP1 the customs duties shall be reduced by 20 per cent of the base rate on the date this protocol enters into force and in MOP2 the duty structure will be reduced 20pc from the base rate in two years time. The customs duties on originating goods provided for in category C1 shall remain at base rates and in category C2 shall not be subject to any concession.

Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2020