E-Paper
Indian Customs allows re-export of Pakistani goods stuck at Attari ICP
The goods have been stuck at the integrated check post at Attari, which facilitates India’s trade with Pakistan and Afghanistan, after the Indian government hiked customs duty from 5% to 200% on products being imported from Pakistan.
Indian customs have allowed re-export of Pakistani goods stuck at the integrated check post (ICP), Attari, since trade activities between the two neighbours came to a halt following the Pulwama terror attack in February.
The goods have been stuck at the ICP, which facilitates India’s trade with Pakistan and Afghanistan, after the Indian government hiked customs duty from 5% to 200% on products being imported from Pakistan.
The government had issued the duty hike notification on February 16, two days after the Pulwama attack in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed.
The shipments, including 90,000 bags of cement, 7,000 bags of dried dates as well as limestone, gypsum and soda worth crores of rupees, had been stuck at the ICP, as the Indian importers refused to clear the goods owing to the duty hike.
Traders have been demanding clearance of the consignments as per the earlier customs duty, claiming that the goods were imported before the issuance of the hike notification.
“We have issued a notice allowing re-export of Pakistani items piled up at the ICP since February. The copy of the notice has also been served on Indian importers, who had ordered the items from the neighbouring country,” said a senior customs officer, who did not want to be named as he is not authorised to speak to media.
Meanwhile, Indian traders said they did not want to send back the imported items. “We will incur a huge loss due to different charges the Pakistani exporters will apply for re-export. Some Indian importers had already paid for the items and it will be difficult for them to get the refund,” said Anil Mehra, president of the Federation of Karyana and Dry Fruit Commercial Association.
“The items were imported from Pakistan till 5 pm on February 16. The government had issued the notification of duty hike at 8 pm. How could the notification be made applicable to the goods arrived in the afternoon and till 5 pm on February 16? Despite paying the normal import duty, our consignments were not cleared,” he said.
Land Port Authority of India (LPAI) manager at Attari, Sukhdev Singh, said, “The hiked duty rates became applicable the same day in our electronic transaction process. Now, it is for the government to take a decision on the items lying at the ICP.”
Last month, the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) had issued a notice for auctioning the goods piled up at the ICP.
However, the importers moved the Punjab and Haryana high court, which stayed the auction till the case’s next hearing in July.
