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Sunday, October 18, 2009
LAHORE: The All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) thanked Federal Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin for accepting the budget proposals of the print media for withdrawal of the Withholding Tax on advertisements, GST on import of newsprint and especially exemption of the Federal Excise Duty on advertisements in newspapers.
The members, in a special resolution, commended the efforts of the President and the Secretary General, APNS, and the cooperation and support extended by Arif Nizami and Hameed Haroon in getting the bailout package for the newspaper industry incorporated in the Finance Act.
Dr Jabbar Khattak, Secretary General of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society, announced the decision and resolutions adopted by the APNS executive committee at its meeting held in Lahore under the chairmanship of Vice President Mumtaz A Tahir. The executive committee noted that the Press Information Department was misinterpreting the notification issued by the FBR on exemption of FED on print media and has withheld approval of the bills of advertising agencies on the pretext that the invoices do not include the FED till the date of the notification. It was further noted that the SRO issued by the FBR clearly stated that the FED if already collected be deposited and did not make it obligatory to pay the FED for advertisements published till the issuance of notification. The members were of the opinion that the approach of PID negated the spirit of the decision of minister for finance and would result in non-payment of bills to member publications. The executive committee urged upon the PID to revisit the notification of the FBR and approve the bills submitted by advertising agencies and member publications without further delay.
The members from across the country thoroughly deliberated on the government advertisement policy and noted that due to unjust and unfair distribution of federal and provincial government advertisements, the genuine and regular publications were facing acute financial crisis and many were at the verge of closure. The situation in Balochistan has become worse wherein irregular publications owned by ministers and officials were being allocated enormous quantum of advertisements whereas advertisements to the longstanding and regular publications have been considerably slashed. The members urged the PID and Information Departments of all the provinces to adopt judicious and transparent advertising policy. In this respect, the APNS demanded that the details of advertisements be notified on a daily basis on website, which should also be provided to the APNS for verification.
The members reiterated that the allocation of government advertisements as per agreed quota for Metro B, Regional and Periodical publications be implemented in letter and spirit. The resolution further demanded that the allocation of government advertisements should be made to APNS member publications only.
The executive committee has urged the Government of Punjab to review the provincial advertising policy and allocate appropriate share to Metro B and Regional publications in all categories of classified and display advertisements. The committee also demanded that timely payment on monthly basis to newspapers against government advertisements be ensured. The members noted that the DGPR has arbitrarily slashed provincial advertisements to publications from Faisalabad, Multan and Bahawalpur, which should be addressed appropriately.
The executive committee considered the request of the Ministry of Information regarding nomination on the Press Council and authorised the president and the secretary general of the society to finalise the APNS nominees.
The executive committee also granted associate membership and provisional accreditation to applicant publications, agencies and MBH on recommendation of respective committees.
The meeting was attended by the following: Mumtaz A Tahir, Vice President, Dr Jabbar Khattak, Secretary General Syed Muhammad Munir Jillani, Joint Secretary Faisal Shahjehan (D/Ausaf), Waseem Ahmed (D/Awam, Qta), Rehmant Ali Raazi (W/Azm), Ahad Zuberi (Business Recorder), Abdul Rashid Ghazi (D/Business Report), Siddiq Baloch (D/Balochistan Express), Syed Faseih Iqbal (D/Balochistan Times), Aijazul Haq (D/Express), Kazi Asad Abid (D/Ibrat), Syed Sarmad Ali (D/Jang), Javed Mehr Shamsi (D/Kaleem), Imtinan Shahid (D/Khabrain), Aamir Mahmood (M/Kiran), Syed Sajjad Bokhari (D/Musawat), Rameeza Majid Nizami (D/Nawa-i-Waqt), Sardar Khan Niazi (M/Naya Rukh), Ali Mujib Shami (D/Pakistan), Khushnood Ali Khan (D/Sahafat), Riaz Ahmed Munsoori (M/The Cricketer), Jamil Ather (D/Tijarat, Lahore), Prof SB Hassan (M/Investment & Marketing) and Sharif Farooq (D/Jihad) while Mukhtar Aaqil (D/Jurat, Karachi), Younus Riaz (D/Beopar), Ghulam Nabi Chandio (Daily Pak), Amiqur Rehman (D/Saadat) and Atiqur Rehman (D/Tijarati Rahbar) attended as special invitees.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
