Pakistan Association of Auto Parts and Accessories Manufacturers (PAAPAM) expressed concerns over not abolishing Regulatory Duty (RD) on products, not being manufactured locally in budget 2017-18. According to PAAPAM Chairman Mashood Ali Khan, the continuation of RD was pushing more companies towards closure and termed the same as unjustified, saying it would affect products' standard and production.
He said PAAPAM moved from pillar to post and met all concerned persons to abolish the same but all efforts went in vain; adding that the industry was on the verge of collapse due to RD imposed simultaneously for three fiscal years. He said that RD was imposed when the government forecasted the international prices would go down but later it was requested to revisit this decision as international prices had been on a constant rise making it even more difficult to bear the burden of the regulatory duty.
Many units and 200,000 employees are likely to deprive from livelihood, he said and added that following the imposition of RD, exports dropped because we had become 30 per cent more expensive than our competitor. Moreover, he said that in the light of new ADP, it was totally incomprehensible to modify its approved tariff structure through levies of Regulatory Duty, Additional Customs Duty on imported raw materials. Therefore, it is requested to exempt the imports the auto industry raw materials fell under SRO 655(1)/2006, SRO 568/ SRO 1178, SRO 565, SRO 678(1)/2004 & Fifth Schedule from levies, he added.