Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Mian Shafqat Ali, Senior Vice President Abdul Basit and Vice President Aftab Ahmad Vohra, terming the decision to allow import of steel and its products from India as a threat to 'Steel Industry', have urged the government to review opening up of this kind of trade with New Delhi.
In a joint statement issued on Friday, the LCCI office-bearers urged the government to withdraw SRO (1) 2005, which permits import of steel and its products from India for an indefinite period.
They said that permission for import of mild steel structure from India would mean import of all kinds of steel and its products from across the border. They said that the SRO covered all the heads of steel and permits their import from India, which the local industry could not afford. They said that the government should have taken a conscious decision in this case to allow import of only galvanised sheets from India for construction purpose in the earthquake areas.
The LCCI office-bearers said the local industry fully understanding the gravity of situation in devastated areas and the government should allow import of only material, which was necessary for reconstruction for a specific period subject to issuance of NOC from the Federal Relief Commission (FRC).
Following is the text of the notification issued on Thursday: SRO (1) 2005- "In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Imports and Exports (Control) Act, 1950 (XXXIX of 1950), the Federal government is pleased to direct that the following further amendment shall be made in the Import Policy Order, 2005, namely: - In the aforesaid Order, in paragraph 16, under heading B, in clause (viii), in the proviso, for the full stop at the end, a colon shall be substituted and thereafter the following new proviso shall be added, namely "Provided further that the corrugated galvanized iron sheets falling under respective H.S. headings shall also be importable from India for a period of one month commencing from the 14th December, 2005 and ending on the 13th January 2005, via land route as well for exclusive use in rehabilitation of earthquake victims, subject to the verification and recommendation of the Federal Relief Commission".-PR