Import of cheap inputs: EDB accused of issuing fake letters

The Engineering Development Board (EDB) is said to be issuing fake authority letters for the import of cheap inputs, leading to a loss of millions of rupees to the national kitty in duty evasion, as well as hurting the local industry. It was learnt on Wednesday
The staff of EDB, a leading government body, working under the Ministry of Industries and Production and entrusted with the task of strengthening the engineering base, was involved in collusion with Customs authorities, in issuing fake authority letters, while determining the 'status of manufacturing' of imported engineering products, an insider of the EDB said. "This has caused a loss of Rs 2.2 million to the national exchequer and some trusted officials of the chief executive officer of the EDB are involved in this," he said.
"The matter is in my knowledge and was addressed when I came to know that a fake letter was dispatched to the Customs authorities and there is no loss of duty," EDB CEO Asad Elahi said when asked for comments on the issue. The CEO stressed it would not happen again as he had taken a number of steps to plug the loopholes. To a question about any inquiry into the misuse of EDB's letterhead, former secretary Statistics Division said it was not a big issue to hold an inquiry and fix responsibility. The EDB, on a simple letterhead with the Board's monogram, issued authority letters to interested importing firms for the import of engineering goods, clearly defining whether the said items were manufactured locally or not. If they were manufactured locally, then the importers had to pay a high duty of 50 per cent or above, if not they had to pay a lower duty of 15 per cent or below.
In a case, a Peshawar-based company imported some brands of pipes and the EDB while determining the status of manufacturing said in a letter, "the said items are not manufactured in Pakistan." However, in another case, with the import of the same items, an EDB letter said that these were manufactured in Pakistan, which helped the Customs officials to determine the duty on imported goods, an EDB employee said.