India seeks lowering of duty on tea by Pakistan
The Indian tea industry on Monday sought lowering of import duty by Pakistan and hoped that this step will go a long way in increasing exports to that country.
By PTI |
KOLKATA: The Indian tea industry on Monday sought lowering of import duty by Pakistan and hoped that this step will go a long way in increasing exports to that country.
Chairman of Tea Board of India Basudeb Banerjee said the basic customs duty on tea imports from India was 10 per cent, which was at par with Kenya.
Besides the basic duty, other rates in the form of income tax and general sales taxes in Pakistan pushes up the effective duty to 33 per cent.
Banerjee said the Pakistan Tea Association (PTA) and several chambers of commerce in that country had been lobbying with the government in this regard.
The Tea Board chairman said while this cannot be termed as a trade barrier per se, but lowering of the basic rate would certainly be a positive step.
The tea industry also regretted that while India had granted the Most Favoured Nation status (MFN) to Pakistan, the other nation was yet to reciprocate that.
Tea Board had recently led a 14-member delegation to Pakistan seeking to tap a significant portion of the 170 million kilo grams market where Kenya had been a dominant player.
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