The Ministry of Commerce has issued a clarification regarding the ban on imports from India, stating that Letter of Credit (LC) or Bill of Lading (BL) issued prior to August 09, 2019, will be allowed for customs clearance.
(more…)Tag: Ministry of Commerce
-
Commerce ministry enhances shelf life condition to discourage substandard edible imports
ISLAMABAD: The ministry of commerce has put mandatory requirement of 66 percent shelf life on imported edible items in order to discourage not fit items and save huge foreign exchange.
The ministry of commerce issued SRO 659(I)/2019 dated June 27, 2019 to amend Import Policy Order 2016 and enhanced the condition of shelf life for imported edible items from 50 percent to 66 percent or 2/3rd of the shelf life.
The condition will be applicable from July 01, 2019.
Through the latest notification the ministry of commerce made amendment to Appendix – B of the Import Policy Order, 2016.
As per import policy all the edible products are importable in Pakistan with certain conditions. At present the following conditions are applicable:
i. It must be fit for human consumption;
ii. The products shall be free of any Haram elements or ingredients;
iii. Edible products shall have at least 50 percent of the shelf life, calculated from the date of filing of Import General Manifest (IGM).
iv. Where condition at (i) above are not permitted on the packing, certificate issued by the manufacturers or principals in respect of these conditions shall be accepted by Customs Authorities.
v. That, in case of meat, it was obtained from Halal animals and slaughtered in accordance with the Islamic inductions;
vi. Import of edible oil in bulk quantity shall be on landed weight and quality basis.
-
Temporary import of arms, ammunition by foreign hunters allowed
ISLAMABAD: The ministry of commerce has allowed temporary import of arms and ammunition by foreign hunters by amending Import Policy Order, 2016.
The ministry issued SRO 565(I)/2019 to amend Import Policy Order, 2016.
It said: “Temporary import-cum-export of arms and ammunition by foreign hunters shall be allowed subject to NOC from the ministry of interior.”
-
Ministry notifies implementation of labeling, printing requirements on imported goods from July 01
ISLAMABAD: The ministry of commerce on Tuesday notified the implementation of labeling and printing conditions on imported goods from July 01, 2019.
The commerce ministry issued SRO 438(I)/2019 to amend Import Policy Order, 2016 and deferred the implementation of labeling requirement and mandatory description of goods in Urdu language till June 30, 2019.
The ministry imposed the conditions through SRO 237 (I)/ 2019 issued on February 19, 2019, under which it was made mandatory that the ingredients and details of the products (e.g. nutritional facts, usage instructions etc.) of the food products shall be printed in Urdu and English languages on the consumer packaging.
It is further made mandatory that the logo of the Halal certification body shall be printed on the consumer packaging. The ministry had made it clear that the labeling shall not be in the form of a sticker, over printing stamp or scratched labeling.
It is also made mandatory that the shipment shall be accompanied by a Halal Certificate issued by a Halal Certification Body, accredited with an Accrediting Body which is a member of International Halal Accreditation Forum (IHAF) or Standards Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries (SMIIC).
The ministry of commerce through the latest notification also amended the requirement of shelf life.
The ministry of commerce extended the labeling requirement on the demand of business community as a large number of imported consignments were stuck at the ports failing to meet the requirement.
-
PM approves 20pc trade officers’ quota for overseas Pakistanis
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved quota of 20 percent for appointing overseas Pakistanis to the post of trade officers in Pakistan’s missions abroad.
The decision was taken during a meeting regarding reforms in posting of Trade Officers Abroad, a statement said on Tuesday.
It may be recalled that the prime minister had directed the ministry of commerce to revamp the entire system of postings of trade officers who are posted abroad to promote trade and commercial interests of the country.
The new policy approved by the prime minister focuses on transparent and merit-based selection of the trade officers, market diversification, involvement of Pakistani diaspora, rationalizing the expenditure, broad-based monitoring and performance evaluation and automation of the processes.
To effectively promote commercial interests of the country especially in the emerging markets and various regions across the globe, trade clusters have been focused in the new policy to ensure optimum utilization and maximum outreach of the trade officers.
The prime minister was informed that in order to ensure broad-based and real-time monitoring of the performance of the trade officers, the entire evaluation process has been made IT-based.
Secretary Commerce Mohammad Younus Dagha also briefed the prime minister about National Trade Data Analytics System which is being developed by the ministry.
The National Trade Data Analytics System with its comprehensive database of trade statistics, exporters/importers directory, product database and trade lead insight will help in better evaluation and promotion of trade interests of the country.
-
Commerce ministry adds non-textile product to claim drawback
ISLAMABAD – The Ministry of Commerce has issued a corrigendum to SRO 711(I)/2018 dated June 08, 2018, expanding the scope of non-textile drawback of duty and taxes.
(more…)