FBR announces tariff concessions for imports from Azerbaijan

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has announced that tariff concessions will be implemented for the importation of certain goods under the Pakistan-Azerbaijan Preferential Trade Agreement starting December 16, 2024.

In an S.R.O.2053(I)/2024 issued by the FBR, it was stated that the concessions will apply to various imported items including shelled hazelnuts or filberts, apricots, vegetable saps and extracts, unstemmed and unstriped tobacco, polyethylene, propylene copolymers, as well as casing, tubing, and drill pipes used in oil or gas drilling, and refined copper wire with a maximum cross-sectional dimension greater than 6 mm.

Imports from Azerbaijan will need to comply with the Pakistan-Azerbaijan Preferential Trade Agreement Rules of Origin, 2024, which have been established in accordance with the preferential trade agreement between Pakistan and Azerbaijan, along with the Import Policy Order issued by the Government of Pakistan.

Consequently, under the authority granted by sections 18C and 19 of the Customs Act of 1969, the Federal Government will exempt, effective December 16, 2024, customs duty (CD), additional customs duty (ACD), and regulatory duty (RD) on the specified imports from Azerbaijan. The concession will apply to rates outlined in the First Schedule of the Customs Act, 1969, or as notified by the FBR on July 1, 2022, as they exceed the corresponding rates set forth in the agreement.

However, if the rates of CD, ACD, or RD specified are higher than those in the First Schedule or as notified by the FBR, then the lower rate will prevail, the FBR clarified.