Trade comes to halt as Pak imposes tax on Indian perishables

CHANDIGARH: Trade across the Attari-Wagah route along the Indo-Pak border has virtually come to a halt after the Pakistan government imposed taxes on import of fresh vegetables from India, exporters said.

The Pakistan government had imposed 16 per cent sales tax on import of onion and potato and 4 per cent income tax on potato, onion and tomato.

"Because of the taxes imposed by (the) Pakistan government on import of tomato, potato and onion, exports of these commodities from India will take a hit as Pakistani importers will refrain from ordering the items from here," Amritsar- based Narain Exim Managing Director Rajdeep Uppal said.

"We used to send 100-120 truckloads per day containing tomato, potato and onion to Pakistan which constitute over 70 per cent of total export but now with no orders remaining in hand, the trade of tomato, potato and onion has completely stopped," he said.

"As a result of taxes imposed on the invoice value of these commodities, the import from India will not be lucrative for a Pakistani importer," Mukesh Sindwani, another exporter asserted.