Cabinet approves revised vehicle import policy for overseas Pakistanis

The federal cabinet has ratified a decision by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on December 9, 2025, which permits overseas Pakistanis to import used vehicles up to three years old under two specific schemes, Business Recorder reported. 

The decision follows a summary submitted by the Ministry of Commerce, which proposed amendments to the existing vehicle import policy, maintaining the Transfer of Residence and Gift schemes.

Under the updated policy, imported vehicles will now be subject to commercial import safety and environmental standards. The permissible intervening import period has been extended from two years to three years, and a one-year non-transferable period will apply to the imported vehicles.

After the cabinet’s approval, the Ministry of Commerce will forward the case to the Ministry of Law and Justice for the vetting of the Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO). Once approved, the SRO will be made publicly available on the Ministry’s website.

Earlier, during its meeting on October 24, 2025, the ECC had instructed the Ministry of Commerce to conduct inter-ministerial consultations before resubmitting the proposal. Following this, an inter-ministerial meeting was held, with officials from various ministries, including the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Ministry of Industries and Production (MoIP), Engineering Development Board (EDB), Ministry of Finance, and Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis.

The discussions focused on which schemes to retain and the conditions for the schemes. While the Ministry of Commerce and FBR supported keeping the Transfer of Residence and Gift schemes, the MoIP/EDB proposed discontinuing the Gift and Personal Baggage schemes due to misuse and foreign exchange concerns. 

The Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis, however, advocated for maintaining all three schemes, emphasizing their welfare importance for overseas Pakistanis.