LAHORE: Irfan Ur Rehman Khan, Director General Input Output Co-efficient Organisation (IOCO) of Federal Board of Revenue has assured APTMA of resolving all issues of exporters relating to determination of Input Output Ratios (IROs), Wastages and Analysis certificates by the next week.
He has sought a proposal from APTMA to make the determination process more viable and export-friendly after due consideration. He agreed that Textile Notes may serve as reference and guidance for determination of Input Output ratios. However, these Notes need to be reviewed as they were compiled more than a decade ago.
He informed that Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has already constituted a committee to update Textile Notes, in consultation with academia, textile associations and other stakeholders.
He was responding to the queries raised by the textile industry representatives on his visit to APTMA Lahore. DG IOCO was accompanied by Ch Muhammad Akram, Director IOCO, Ammara Durrani, Additional Director, Aneeqa Afzal, Additional Director, Nadia Aslam, Deputy Director and Usman Butt, Deputy Director, IOCO.
Chairman APTMA North Kamran Arshad, along with senior executives Anjum Zafar, Muhammad Ali, Ismail Fareed, Shams Elahi, Danish Aslam and Secretary General Raza Baqir welcomed him on the occasion.
The DG said the IOCO was following a flexible approach in dealing with the issues of the textile industry, which is contributing impressively towards earning foreign exchange, creating jobs and expanding manufacturing base in the country.
He said the newly-introduced Export Facilitation Scheme (EFS) is experiencing teething problems, which would be overcome soon with the help of stakeholders.
He informed the audience that the IOCO has cleared the backlog of IORs and Analysis Cards. Collectorates had referred the industry cases mistakenly, which are addressed and the IOCO is left with about 200 cases at present against a backlog of 2200 earlier.
He assured of not letting create another discrepancy, as the Collectorates are advised to refer only new cases for determination purposes in future, he added.
In his welcome address, Chairman APTMA North Kamran Arshad suggested to involve representatives from the Association as well as National Textile University for assistance of IOCO while determining wastage ratio of the APTMA members.
He said Zeba Hai Azhar, Member (Customs), FBR has already constituted a committee to update wastage ratio with equal representation from the industry and the department, which is a welcoming sign.
He pointed out that inordinate delays in determination of Input Output Ratios (IORs) and incorrect wastages and urged the DG to play a role in strict implementation of the Textile Notes.
He recalled the meeting dated October 24, 2023 at APTMA office and reminded of the announcement of issuing IORs strictly according to the FBR Textile Notes but to no avail. There would be no need for visits by the department if FBR Textile Notes are followed in letter and spirit, he stressed. In case of multiple locations of manufacturing unit, he suggested to determine where principal manufacturing unit is located.
The IORs should be granted automatically without visit and redeterminations in respect of items where Analysis cards have already been issued.
He further proposed that multiple analysis certificates should not be required for similar or identical products. Chairman North also sought upward revision of Duty Drawback rates of textile products. The DG IOCO agreed with most of the suggestions and assured of full cooperation.
Secretary General APTMA Raza Baqir extended a vote of thanks to the visiting DG IOCO and urged to keep visiting APTMA for the resolution of issues hampering smooth and steady growth of the textile industry exports.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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