LAHORE - Pakistan Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Importers Association has welcomed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) decision of proper inspection of import documents of items available in the market for curbing smuggling.
FMCG importers said that the association was raising voice for solid steps to check smuggling as it was not only hurting the interest of law-abiding importers but also depriving the country revenue.
In a joint statement issued on Monday, Chairman Anjum Nisar, Senior Vice Chairman Nafees Barry, Vice Chairman Ejaz Tanveer and Secretary General Ali Mattoo also suggested taking on board the representatives of genuine importers so as to devise an effective line of action against smugglers and smuggled items. Increase in the regulatory duties on different imported items in recent past was due to the same menace as increasing smuggling of imported items was depriving the government from revenue, they added.
They claimed that a parallel economy had emerged because of smuggling which was neither beneficial for the government nor the importers. They urged all the stakeholders to join hands with the FBR and other institutions to curb this menace.