ISLAMABAD, Aug 25: The overseas Pakistanis have asked the government to revise the trade policy for allowing import of used cars without any restriction of age.

An official told Dawn on Saturday that the request came from the overseas Pakistanis following the gradual reduction in import of cars due to the restrictions introduced in the last two trade policies.

According to the previous trade policy, the import of used and old vehicles up to 3-year old was allowed through gift scheme and personal baggage scheme. However, no age limit was imposed on cars imported under the transfer of residence (TOR) scheme.

In order to restrict the inflow of older vehicles due to pressure from the local auto manufacturers a uniform policy with respect to aging was implemented. Accordingly, the age of used and second-hand vehicles was restricted to 5 years.

Under the TOR scheme, the import of used vehicle dropped to 6,842 units during the year 2006-07 as against 29,112 units, a decline of 76 per cent.

The import of vehicles under gift scheme declined by 97 per cent to 87 units during the year under review as against 2,954 units. However, import of used cars under personal baggage has increased by 184.5 per cent to 16,554 units from 5,818 units.