FBR agrees to amend SRO 231

SIALKOT – Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry on Tuesday thanked FBR Chairman Salman Siddique for resolving all the issues concerning the export industry of the district.
In a press statement, Ghulam Mustafa said he led a delegation of the Sialkot chamber which met the FBR chairman on March 27th, 2011, in Islamabad to apprise him of the great unrest among the exporters caused by the issuance of SRO 231 under which zero rating on five major export sectors had been restricted to registered manufacturers-cum-exporters and exporters for export purposes only.
The chairman was requested that the zero rating status of the export industry, including sports goods, surgical instruments, leather goods and sportswear, should continue in the best national interest, the SCCI president said. He added the FBR chairman was kind enough to give patient hearing to the delegation and agreed to amend SRO 231 to continue zero rating status of the export sector.
It was demanded at the meeting that the government should provide some relief to the export industry as the export sector was already facing unfriendly situation in the country. The chairman agreed to provide maximum support to the business community with a view to improving economic activity, Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry said the FBR chairman also agreed to the proposal that sales tax registration for the leather sector should start at the stage of organised tanning industry, exempting the other vending facilities.
Similarly, for the surgical industrial sector, registration would start from the industrial unit stage while vendors would remain exempted. Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry said that this facility would immensely be beneficial for the leather and surgical industry, enabling them to focus on exports.
The SCCI president said it was also suggested to the FBR that export industry be facilitated by allowing it duty-free import of accessories against the export performance up to 10 per cent. The chairman was kind enough to consider the request to allow duty free import of accessories up to 5 per cent of export performance.