Pakistan allows withdrawal of duties on imported cotton

Under the chairmanship of Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on Monday decided to withdraw 3pc regulatory duty, 2pc additional customs duty and 5pc sales tax on imported cotton from January 15, 2020.

The decision was taken in the light of the information provided to the ECC after the first Cotton Crop Assessment Committee’s meeting held on October 4, 2019, in which it was briefed that against the production target of 15 million bales of cotton for FY2019-20, the cotton production at the year-end would be 10.20 million bales.

The chair was briefed that the bulk of the cotton would be lifted from local farmers by January 1, 2020 and the given exemption would not adversely affect the interests the local farmers.

On the other hand, it was also assured by the ministries of commerce and national food security & research that the import shall facilitate the textile sector exports which were showing a rising trend.