ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has notified procedures for the clearance and safe, secure transportation of plant, machinery, equipment, and industrial inputs destined for industrial units in the tribal areas (erstwhile FATA/PATA).

The FBR has issued Customs General Order No. 8, 2025, to notify the procedures for availing of the concessionary rates of sales tax under Entry 89 of the Eighth Schedule to the Sales Tax Act, 1990.

The federal government initially extended sales tax and income tax concessions to industrial units in the erstwhile FATA/PATA through SROs 1212 and 1213 of 2018, which were later incorporated, vide the Finance Act 2019, under serial 151 of the Sixth Schedule of the Sales Tax Act and Section 159 of the Income Tax Ordinance.

From 2018 to March 2021, the erstwhile FATA/PATA units imported plant, machinery, equipment, and industrial inputs through Karachi port.

However, following objections from business rivals of settled areas, the FBR regulated these imports through CGO-01/2021, requiring mandatory clearance from Azakhel Dry Port under a bonded carrier regime under the Tracking and Monitoring of Cargo Rules.

The Finance Act 2025 partially withdrew the earlier exemption and introduced a phased 10 per cent sales tax, while the requirement for clearance through Azakhel Dry Port under CGO-01 of 2021 remained intact.

The FBR has now notified the new procedure vide CGO-08 of 2025, reviving the regulatory framework to ensure secure, tracked movement of concessionary imports to the designated tribal area units under Tracking and Monitoring of Cargo Rules, 2023, with clearance required through Azakhel Dry port and addressing concerns raised by competing industries in settled regions.

Published in Dawn, December 2nd, 2025