Plastic importers and manufacturers have threatened to shut down their businesses and stage a sit-in against unchecked smuggling of Plastic Moulding Compound from Iran by land route.
A nine-member delegation of Punjab Plastic Importers and Manufacturers Association called on President Lahore Chamber of Commerce (LCCI) Irfan Qaiser Sheikh on Monday and informed him that the unchecked menace of smuggling was not only causing a loss of Rs 25 billion annually to the exchequer but also hitting the entire businesses hard.
The delegation comprising Malik Munawar, Javaid Jillani, Chaudhry Mobeen, Mian Anjum, Sheikh Waheed, Usman Sharif, Sheikh Pervaiz, Sheikh Mohammad Ayub and Malik Fakhir Sultan that it was surprising that on the one hand the FBR authorities were playing arm-twisting with the exiting taxpayers by issuing SROs like 191(I) 2012 while on the other hand the menace of smuggling is fast spreading under their watch and at the cost of exchequer.
The delegates said that the authorities concerned should immediately ban import of Polyethene and Polypropylene from Iran via land route from any border of Pakistan as at present these products are available in the local market at Rs 20/kg below the imported price that was very damaging for the local businessmen.
They informed the president LCCI that the association had already sent letters to the FBR that the smuggling of polymers from Iran was not only causing a huge loss to the government but was also badly damaging the local investors who were running their businesses through clean documentation. They said that only because of these unscrupulous elements it has become almost impossible for the genuine businessmen to continue their businesses. They said that the total import of plastic raw material Polyethene and Polypropylene in 2010-2011 was about Rs 75.5 billion. The importers pay advance tax at port about 38 percent in lieu of duties and taxes and if the smuggling was not stopped, it would lead to a loss of minimum Rs 25 billion to the exchequer.
They said that it was very unfortunate that the people sitting at the helm of affairs in the Federal Board of Revenue were taking this important issue of national importance very lightly. They said that the government would have to weed out the menace of smuggling once and for all to save the local investors and the economy.
Speaking on the occasion, the LCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikh said that LCCI would extend full co-operation to the Federal Board of revenue (FBR) if it initiates a strict action against such black sheep who were not only challenging the writ of the law but also denting the economy in a big way. He said that the growth of unorganised sector must be checked for the sake of organised sectors that are doing business after paying all their dues. "To provide an enabling business atmosphere to the genuine businessmen is duty of the government," he said.