KARACHI, April 27: Tea trade leaders want prompt remedial measures to check smuggling, otherwise, they fear, volume of smuggled tea will go up to 50,000 tons from the current 32,000 tons.

“The best way to curtail the quantum of smuggling is to reduce the customs duty on imports by 15 per cent,” chairman Pakistan Tea Association (PTA), Mohammad Hanif Janoo told a press conference at a local hotel on Saturday.

He said smugglers are currently enlarging their distribution network without check from any agency. As a result of this, the smuggled tea is arriving into Karachi in a very large quantity daily by full truckloads through Quetta.

Afghanistan mainly consumes only green tea, being imported from China, Indonesia, Vietnam, etc., and orthodox black tea from Sri Lanka, Indonesia and India. All the CTC teas imported by Afghanistan from Kenya and other origins are meant for dumping into Pakistan, he said.

An estimated 32,000 tons of tea was smuggled into Pakistan in 2001 as compared to 24,000 tons in 2000 and 21,000 tons in 1999. Genuine imports in 2001 were 105,000 tons as against 111,000 tons in 2000 and 112,000 tons in 1999. Tea consumption pattern in Pakistan has been rising since 1999 from 133,000 tons to 135,000 tons in 2000 to 137,000 tons in 2001.

Janoo said in just three months, January-March, 10,000 tons of tea has found way into Pakistan through illegal channels.

Even if the government, he said, cuts the import duty in 2002- 2003 budget by five per cent, genuine imports will surge to 125,000 tons as compared to 105,000 tons. The Association has urged the Commerce Minister Abdul Razak Dawood on April 24 to cut the import duties to 15 per cent from the current 30 per cent.