Condition for duty concession abolished

Published September 27, 2005

ISLAMABAD, Sept 26: The government has decided to abolish the condition of prior declaration of goods for seeking duty concession under the new baggage rules for the overseas Pakistani.

A senior customs official told Dawn on Monday that the decision would be notified through a notification shortly by making amendment in the baggage rules.

The government in the current fiscal year’s budget had made it compulsory for all overseas Pakistani to declare their goods through ‘Form A’ prior their to their visit and submit it with the customs department for seeking any concession under the new rules.

This condition had created a lot of problems as majority of overseas Pakistanis were not aware of the government decision and faced humiliation at the hands of custom officials.

The official said that after receiving complaints from various overseas Pakistanis it, the government had decided to abolish the condition.

According to the official, the government had already given equal treatment in duty concession to tourists, pilgrims and even passengers coming from India under the new baggage rules.