Govt exempts sugar import from taxes, notification issued

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has exempted the import of 300,000 tonnes of sugar from sales and income taxes to bring down the price of sweetener in the country.

FBR has issued a notification granting the exemption on the import of sugar by a private firm.

The notification came following the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet’s approval to import 300,000 tonnes of white sugar to arrest the skyrocketing price of the commodity.

“The ECC considered a proposal of the Ministry of Industries and Production for the import of refined sugar by the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to maintain buffer stocks, and allowed import of up to 300,000 tons of white sugar,” a statement issued by the finance ministry had read.

A three-member committee comprising industries and production secretary, commerce secretary and finance secretary was tasked to decide the mode of procurement of sweetener.

On July 15, in order to ensure the availability of wheat and flour in the country throughout the year at affordable prices, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) had directed the Ministry of National Food Security and Research to accelerate efforts for wheat imports.

The ECC directed the food ministry to hold meetings with the major importers of wheat at the earliest and come up with proposals. The food ministry briefed the ECC that combined together the Provincial governments and PASSCO have already achieved 79% of their procurement targets while more than 120 importers have so far shown interest to import wheat in the country.