ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Commerce on Saturday announced that the ban on the import of luxury goods will not apply to those consignments for which bill of lading (BL) or irrevocable letter of credit (LC) have already been opened prior to this decision.

An official announcement of the commerce ministry said the imports where BL or irrevocable LC was issued or established prior to the notification of the SRO598 of 2022.

Hence, imported goods for which BL or irrevocable LC was established prior to May 19 will not be subject to the prohibitions contained in the said SRO.

On May 19, the government slapped a ban on the import of nearly 800 luxury and non-essential items in 33 categories, including food products in order to address the balance of payments situation resulting from the widening of the current account deficit in the first 10 month of the current FY22.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2022