The government will announce tariff concessions on import of Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)/Plasma TVs for a period of one year to facilitate the local assemblers of television industry.
Sources told Business Recorder on Monday that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) would exempt LCD/Plasma Display Panel (PDP) and its parts/components in complete knockdown (CKD) condition from payment of customs duty for a period of one year. The minimum rate of 5 percent customs duty would be applicable on import of LCD, Plasma TVs and parts/components.
They said that customs duty would be reduced from 25 to 20 percent on import of LCD and PDP TVs in the ''completely built-up'' (CBU) form. The duty reduction would also be applicable for one-year period. The board is likely to amend SRO 565(I)/2006 of June 5 2006 to offer time-bound tariff concessions to the local manufacturers/assemblers of these items.
According to sources, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet considered the proposal of FBR on reduction of duty on import of LCD/Plasma TVs and its parts/components and approved tariff concessions for one year. The exemption/reduction of duty would be available to companies engaged in manufacturing/assembling of LCD/PDP TVs.
Sources said that the National Tariff Commission (NTC) would carry out examination of the concessionary customs tariff on the import of LDC/Plasma display panels during the one-year period. The NTC would submit recommendations on the continuation or withdrawal of duty reductions in view of impact on the domestic industry.
It is worth mentioning that the basic items used in the assembling/manufacturing of LCD/Plasma TVs included screw sets; speaker; front cabinet assy; filter for plasma display or LCD panel; rear cover assy; plasma display or LCD control unit'' printed circuit board; plasma display panel/LCD panel and AC cable accessories etc.