KARACHI: The Government of Pakistan has tightened the provisions of Import Policy pertaining to the import of used machinery and vehicles by construction, mining, oil & gas companies to avoid country becoming a junkyard.
According to the Import Policy Order (IPO) 2016, import of more than five years old specialized vehicle-mounted machinery and transport equipment such as mobile transit mixer, concrete pumps, crane lorries, concrete placing trucks, dumpers designed for off highway use, cement bulkers and prime movers is not allowed any more. Earlier, import of these goods were allowed to be imported by construction companies, mining, oil, gas and petroleum sector companies having a useful life of five years.
Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in view of import of old and used trucks in the garb of above mentioned specialized vehicles through fixing dummy tanks on trucks, FBR recommended imposing a ban on more than five years old specialized vehicles.
More than five years old trucks are not environment friendly and are sold cheaper in the world. Several commercial importers in the name of construction companies were importing this dying vehicles, which were being used for commercial purposes. Since, due to this age restriction, cheaper vehicles could not be imported, the quantum of import such vehicles would decline significantly hence reducing the country’s import bill.