ISLAMABAD, Sept 5: Thirteen china tableware manufacturing industries in Pakistan have been closed, while at least three others are operating at less than 40 per cent capacity mainly due to dumping, National Tariff Commission (NTC) was informed here on Thursday.

Participating in a public hearing held at NTC, All Pakistan Ceramics & Pottery Association chairman Mohammad Aslam Lone alleged that the local industry faced dumping prices charged for the crockery imported from China.

Dr Faizullah Khilji, Chairman of NTC presided. Interestingly, the importers remained conspicuous by their absence.

Quoting Chinese exporters, he said it was the practice in China not to fix universal rates. In this, China was aided by the fact that it had ample raw materials in the form of clay and coal. There was thus no system of cost accountancy. The Chinese exporters simply determined their price in comparison with the rates prevailing in each country of import.

The public hearing was held in response to the application submitted by Cera-e-Noor — a subsidiary of Hashu group — to the NTC for protection from unfair trade practices of foreign exporters.

Representing Cera-e-Noor, P.K. Shahani said the organized sector comprising 12 industries, large and medium-sized, was on the verge of collapse owing, besides dumping, etc., to high production cost due to ill-considered custom duty on imported raw material and high energy cost.

He charged that the imported crockery was being marketed in Pakistan at rates about 60 per cent lower than the international price. Tactics employed by them included invoicing first class product as second class product, thus cheating exchequer of tax and avoiding the mischief of anti-dumping ordinance.

Although the tableware produced locally with state of the art technology of Europe was of international standard, it could not compete in the face of such under-hand practices of foreign exporters, Mr Shahani contended.

According to official statistics, the import of finished product increased by 131 per cent within the last two years.

The production of tableware, local industrialists stated, was dependent on raw material imported from China. It accounted for 35 per cent of the production cost of crockery. By contrast, the main competitor has the advantage of using its own raw material.

The government’s policy in this connection had been far from helpful, the crockery manufacturers remarked. In 2002-03 budget, it reduced the custom duty by 10 per cent to 25 per cent but it was kept at the same level in case of china clay, the main raw material.

In order to save the indigenous industry from collapse, they urged the government to allow duty-free import of china clay and other inputs, reduce sales tax from 15 per cent to 5 per cent and to levy, for a limited period, regulatory duty at the rate of 10 per cent.

The NTC chairman, describing the government policy, said Pakistan was obliged under the IMF’s conditionalities to reduce the import duty to 25 per cent. The Commission would, therefore, have to include in its recommendations, if any, duty rates commensurate with the four slabs (5%, 10%, 20% and 25%) fixed in the budget.

Moreover, he pointed out, regulatory duty remains in force from budget to budget. He, therefore, advised the industrialists to invoke the anti-dumping law now in force in Pakistan with requisite documents. Under it, NTC had the power to impose anti- dumping duties for five years, he said.