Govt slaps restrictions on import of 581 food items

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday slapped restrictions on import of 581 food items as non-tariff barriers (NTBs) were imposed through a statutory regulatory order (SRO) aimed at reducing import bill during the current fiscal year.

The import of all these 581 items will be allowed subject to quarantine requirements of Animal Quarantine Department of Ministry of National Food Security and Research. The SRO contained that the technical standard and certification requirements will be developed by concerned agencies for all the remaining tariff lines.

Earlier, the FBR had imposed regulatory duty on 376 tariff lines in order to discourage rising import bill. Now the government has used combined measures in shape of tariff and non-tariff barriers for curtailing trade deficit in a big way. When contacted, Federal Secretary Commerce Younas Dagha confirmed that the ministry issued SRO to this effect.

According to the SRO issued by Ministry of Commerce, a copy of which is available with The News, “in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Imports and Exports (Control) Act, 1950 (XXXIX of 1950), the federal government is pleased to direct that the amendments shall be made in the Import Policy Order, 2016, namely: In the aforesaid order,- In Appendix-B, after Part-II, the following new Part-III shall be added, namely:- ‘Part-III’ for placing safety health and procedural requirements.”

The items on which restrictions were imposed included bees, carcasses and half carcasses, half carcasses, other cuts with bone in, boneless, carcasses and half carcasses of lamb, fresh or chilled, carcasses and half-carcasses, other cuts with bone in, meat of goats, bovine animals or fresh chilled, tongues, livers, cuts and offal frozen, of a fat content, by weight, not exceeding 1 percent, in powder, granules or other solid forms, of a fat content, by weight, not exceeding 1.5 percent, yogurt, whey powder, cheese, grated or powdered cheese, processed cheese, blue veined cheese, other cheese, chicken, natural honey, edible products of animal origin, human hair, feathers of a kind used for stuffing, ossein and bones treated with acid, bones (powder), bones (waste), ivory powder and waste, horns, shells, fish eggs, silk worm eggs, horse hair and horse waste, bulbs, trees, shrubs and bushes, roses, carnation, orchids, lilies, seed, tomato fresh and chilled, onion and shallots, garlic, cabbage, mushrooms, globe artichokes, olives, pumpkin, potatoes, spinach, sweet corn, cucumbers, onions, peas, grams, grams split, oranges, kino fresh, grapefruit, lemons, quinces, strawberries, kiwifruit, cherries, apple, apricot, citrus fruit, green tea, tea dust, red chillies, basmati, cereals, melon seeds, sugar beet seeds, sugarcane, hena leave and powder, tallow, fats and oils, lanolin, bees wax, salmon, herrings, crabs, caviar, lobster, abalone, sea cucumbers, coca shells, coca been, pineapples, cotton seeds, hides buffalo, hides cows, shown wool, coarse animal hair and many other items exist in the list.