KARACHI, Oct 15: About 22 containers loaded with readymade garments for the earthquake victims have been waiting for clearance by customs authorities at the Karachi Export Processing Zone for the last one week, exporters said here on Saturday.

Export manager of a garment factory at the KEPZ said that about 150 garment factories had donated a portion each of their total production for quake victims. “We want to send these garments through the army collection centre at PAF Museum to the affected areas, but have been made to waiting for want of custom clearance,” he added.

He said that garment factory owners had contacted some senior officers at the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) who issued certain instructions in this regard to their Karachi office, but to no avail.

He said that the government through an SRO had withdrawn customs duty on foreign relief goods and also the sales tax on the supplies meant for quake-hit areas, but this SRO did not contain any instructions for the goods manufactured at the EPZs which were for export only.

“If a manufacture of exportable items wants to contribute some portion of his produce for a noble cause, he should be allowed to do so,” he argued.

A senior officer at KEPZ said that he had nothing to do with the customs clearance, but added that if these goods were meant for quake victims, they should be cleared. He said that CBR should directly pass on directives to its officials at the KEPZ in this regard.

He said that the garment manufacturers in the export zones had also offered the local custom officers to take these containers along with them to PAF Museum to remove any doubt.

He pointed out that the week-long wait had frustrated some of the donors to the extent that they were now withdrawing their containers.—APP