ISLAMABAD: The country’s tyre manufacturing sector has urged the government to withdraw its decision to discontinue stamping of goods in transit to Afghanistan at the Karachi Port and Port Qasim, stating that the move would damage the local industry and reverse all efforts to control smuggling.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, a spokesman of the General Tyre and Rubber Company of Pakistan (GTR) said the process would increase smuggling and facilitate the pilferage of transit goods in the country.
He asserted that stamping must be mandatory for goods in transit to Afghanistan. “Without stamping, goods will again find their way into the country and ultimately weaken our local industrial basis, resulting in the government losing billions in revenue.”
Moreover, it has been established that stamping was helpful in identifying items under the guise of Afghan Transit Trade (ATT) that were either unloaded in Karachi or came back from the Afghan border via smuggling.
It may be mentioned that smuggling has been the biggest problem for the local tyre industry, which meets almost 15pc of the country’s demand.
It is also worth noting that almost 20pc of the country’s demand is met through imports while 65pc of tyre demand is covered through smuggling.
The GTR spokesman maintained the local industry is generating employment and tax revenue for the government while saving millions of dollars in import bill. “But owing to the menace of smuggling, local manufacturers are either shutting down operations or are moving out to other places.”
General Tyre, the largest tyre manufacturer in Pakistan, is also suffering due to cross-border smuggling, misdeclaration, legalised smuggling and ATT, he said.
“Therefore, we request the government to mull over its decisions and revert to previous conditions.”
