LAHORE AFTER imposition of 25 per cent duty on import of potatoes, the import of the commodity from India has stopped.
Yesterday, the vegetable importers at Wahga border had refused to pay 25 per cent import duty on their potato consignments on which the Customs officials had not received million of rupees worth potato consignments from Indian counterparts.
The importers had urged the government to allow them import of the previously placed orders consignments without import duty as they had paid advances to the Indian traders. They said in case of import duty, they would face huge loss as importing potatoes at 25 per cent import duty is not viable for them.
Meanwhile, the Customs officials said they would start charging US $ 0.37 per kg import duty when they would receive the orders from Federal Board of Revenue. However, the clearance of Indian tomatoes continued at the Wahga border on Wednesday.
Some 25 tomatoes-laden trucks arrived at Wahga border from India. After the decision of the federal government of imposition of 25 per cent import duty on potato, the price of local potatoes has been increased by Rs 150 per 100-kilogram sack Wednesday. Potatoes at Badami Bagh fruits and vegetables marker had auctioned at Rs 950 to Rs 1000 per bag as compared to the previous day price of Rs 800 to Rs 850 per bag.
The vegetables importers of Lahore had given a mixed reaction on the government decision on imposing import duty on potatoes. They said it would defiantly protect the local producers whose production cost had already increased manifolds.
A vegetable importer, Ch Mudassar said the local farmers were suffering a lot from Indian vegetables, as they were not getting good price of their produce while Indian vegetables arrived in the off-season. Thus, the importers earn good profit on it and benefits were also passed on to the Indian growers, he added.
Muhammad Imran, another vegetable importer welcomed the decision of the government. However, he was of the view that the government should not impose heavy import duty. “The government should levy low import duty and should gradually increase it,” he said, adding heavy import duty will stop the import of potatoes and will increase the price of it in the local market which will affect the consumers.
Source : The News