APTTA urges govt to abolish import duty and other taxes on import of Wood & Timber

Federal Board of Revenue is receiving 32-34 per cent Customs Duty, Sales Tax and Withholding Tax and up to ware house is 42 per cent on the import of Wood & Timber

APTTA has urged the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf government to completely abolish import duty, sales tax and other taxes on the import of Wood & Timber to protect the commercial activities in Pakistan.

The importers claimed that because of the higher customs duty, sales tax and withholding tax on Wood and Timber (HS Code 44.03 & 44.07) the commercial activities have gone down and it is the time for PTI government to take necessary measures to protect this industry.

Chairman All Pakistan Timber Traders Association (APTTA), Sharjil Goplani, said the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is receiving 32-34 per cent Customs Duty, Sales Tax and Withholding Tax and up to ware house is 42 per cent on the import of Wood & Timber and urged the government to remove it completely.

“We can more than hypothetically assume that the shortfall in respect of revenue will be offset by the increased business activities, which will also create many jobs etc in Pakistan,” Mr Sharjil said adding that the Wood & Timber is raw material and basic need of most of other industries.

He further highlights that our neighbouring country China is importing Wood & Timber from all over the world. It imports wood from other countries like US, Canada, Africa and many other countries and produce value added goods from the raw material and re-exports to US, Canada, European countries, Middle East and North African countries which give tremendous boost to their wood products export.

The importer of wood said if the government allows the duty-free import of wood, it will not only boost construction industry but it will lead to the promotion of many downstream industries by creating a healthy business environment in Pakistan.

It is regrettable that the forest reserve in Pakistan according to FAO report 2015 is 1.9 per cent that is almost zero compared to the other countries of the world. The most of the countries, where the forest percentage is below 25 per cent, do not allow harvesting and start plantations to boost forest reserves.

Pakistan has almost 1029 known species of all animals, while 3.5 of these are endemic (which exist in no other country) and such animals and other species are living in forests.

Pakistani forests have already depleted and causing climate change and melting glaciers in Pakistan.

Pakistan is also facing acute shortage of Wood & Timber owing to the lack of forest and Chairman of APTTA appealed to the government to take measures for the protection of forest reserves. He said the countries like Finland, Sweden, Germany, France, Austria, USA, Canada have proper replantation policies for example when they harvest or cut one tree they plant two trees.