The Engineering Development Board (EDB) said on Friday it was facing difficulties in regulating manufacturing/assembly in automobile sector through a deletion programme due to non-co-operation of Pakistan Auto Parts Manufacturers Association (Pama), the official body of the auto sector.
The EDB, working under the Ministry of Industries, Production and Special Initiative, in a press release issued by Industrial Bulletin Editor Imdad Ahmed Mian, alleged the Pama had refused to speak for its members in the last meeting of Indigenisation Committee held here on Saturday last.
"The government wants to move to tariff based system (TBS) at the earliest. As per decision of the cabinet in 1995, it has to shift from prevailing product specific to HS Code based tariff system, but these efforts have been frustrated by the Pama", the statement said.
Its members were divided on the basis of type of vehicle produced, the EDB statement said, adding while each car producer wanted to be treated differently from the other, they wanted different levels of deletion for each model.
As a representative body, the Pama needed to make efforts to narrow differences among its members and present a common viewpoint as done by the vendors' body PAAPAM, the EDB Editor said.
Contrary to this diversification, the Pama had shown unity on demand made to the government through press advertisements against liberalisation of imports under the baggage scheme, he said.
Naturally, the government was interested to offer one window operation to the auto sector and would like to deal with Pama rather than individual companies, he further said.
If the Pama was unable to bring its members on one platform, then the commercial vehicle manufacturers and tractor manufacturers might decide to form their own industry association, but the car sector would still needed a common platform in its contacts with the government, the EDB's Editor for Industrial Bulletin concluded.