KARACHI – Confusion and anomalies in the hurriedly issued SRO 231 (I) /2011 dated March 15, 2011 has brought the supply chain of goods manufactured by the five major export based industry of the country grinding to a complete halt.
Speaking to Pakistan Today on Monday, Sindh Industrial Trading Estate (SITE) Association of Industry Chairman Abdul Wahab Lakhani has claimed that the ambiguity inherent in the recently issued SRO which he claims was hurriedly prepared to handle the IMF team has started causing huge losses to the country’s industries.
In the absence of clarification or removal of the ambiguity in the fresh SRO, manufacturers are refusing to deliver goods to other manufacturers or to exporters, with the result that products are piling up in the mills with a disruption in the weaving or processing industry and goods are not being cleared for exports. Besides, he added, the import consignments were also not being cleared from the customs due to confusion and were attracting demurrage thus increasing the landed cost of importers. As a result, he noted that the importers and manufacturers were facing losses due to no fault on their part.
Beside the losses to the manufactures, he stated, this state of suspension of activities and delay in exports would cause irreparable damage to the economy as they would not be able to meet their shipment dates and letters of credit would expire. Due to present confusion, ginners were not prepared to provide cotton to spinners, causing a distortion to the whole supply chain system.
“If this ambiguity remains in the SRO, hard fought markets will be lost to regional competitors,” he said.
He stressed that though the team of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) headed by its chairman had conducted detailed discussion with trade bodies in the city over the newly issued ordinances nothing was done by the FBR to remove the confusion in the SRO.
The three-days of talks between the representatives of trade and industry on one hand and the FBR on the other have so far been inconclusive and failed to resolve the anomaly, while clearing the redressing the concerns of trade and industry, he added.
