The Central Board of Revenue (CBR) has taken no action on the complaint of Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (Minfal) to check massive tea smuggling under the Afghan Transit Trade Agreement (ATTA).
The Minfal had informed the CBR Member Customs, Shahid Rahim Shaikh, two months ago about the increasing volume of tea smuggling. But, it seems the CBR's repeated claim of checking smuggling through information-based network has only confined to confiscation of non-duty paid vehicles.
It is estimated that 48,000 tonnes of the commodity was brought illegally into the country during 2006 as compared to 40,000 tonnes in 2005, thus inflicting a revenue loss of Rs 2 billion to the exchequer.
The Pakistan Tea Association (PTA) has not only demanded elimination of tea smuggling menace but also requested the concerned authorities to take punitive action against the smugglers, official sources told Business Recorder on Friday.
"We wanted to protect the tea growers, as smuggling is not only hurting importers but also curbing the efforts of the ministry for promoting tea plantation in NWFP and AJK", a senior official in the Minfal seeking anonymity told this correspondent. It is a routine practice that some of the commodities like fertiliser, cooking oil (ghee), flour (Atta) and tea are smuggled from Afghanistan to Pakistan, hurting local economy and industry.