The National Board of Revenue has raised the regulatory duty on imports of furniture, fruits, flowers, and cosmetics to 20 percent from 3-5 percent to discourage their imports amid depleting foreign exchange reserve. The company issued a statutory regulatory order in this regard on Monday in accordance with the Customs Act 1969. The regulatory duty on imports of various fruits like bananas, including plantains, fresh or dried, figs fresh, avocados, mangos, papayas, apples, pears, and quinces, among others, has been increased to 20 percent from 3 percent.
The regulatory duty on imports of cut flowers and flower buds suitable for bouquets or ornamental purposes, fresh, dried, dyed, bleached, foliage, among others, has been increased to 20 percent from 3 percent. The regulatory duty on cosmetics items like perfumes, beauty or make-up preparations, and preparations for skin care, including sunscreen or sun tan preparations, manicure or pedicure preparations, were also raised to 20 percent from 5 percent. The regulatory duty on the import of metal furniture, wooden furniture, and kitchen appliances has been increased to 20 percent from 3-5 percent.
In a press release, the NBR said that the regulatory duty on the imports of these items has been raised to promote local products and increase competitiveness. The country’s local furniture and cosmetics manufacturers are capable of meeting the local market demand, and the newly-imposed regulatory duty will help the producers compete with the foreign competitors, said the NBR.
However, they kept the regulatory duty unchanged on imports of cars, other vehicles and the vehicle parts, raw sugar, iron and related items, aluminum and copper wire, glues, and polymers, among other items. The regulatory duty rate on some luxurious items, especially cars with 4000cc engine capacity, was also kept unchanged at 35 percent. The imports of CKD items of the cars with 4000cc engine capacity were also kept unchanged at 30 percent. The NBR also kept the regulatory duty on CKD items of the car below 4000cc engine capacity unchanged at 15 percent.
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