No further cuts in rice import duty: NBR

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) yesterday said it is unwilling to reduce import duty on rice in order to protect farmers' interests.

"Farmers do not want to cultivate paddy as they do not get fair prices of their produce. Imports will be cheaper if import duty is reduced further and our farmers will be discouraged to grow the staple," said NBR Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem.

He made the comments at a press briefing replying to a question whether the revenue authority would cut import duty further as prices of staple grains and edible oil are high.

The revenue authority organised the press briefing at its headquarters to share plans on observing the International Customs Day-2021 today. The NBR last month slashed import duty on rice to 25 per cent from 62.5 per cent following recommendations from the food ministry.

Importers will require written permission from the food ministry to bring rice.

The NBR also imposed 10 per cent tariff on onion import to protect interests of local growers.

Muneem cited risk of losses of onion producers in case of a reduction in import duty on the key kitchen ingredient.

He said people have purchasing capacity and the price impact on them would be minimal as a small amount of onion is needed for cooking.

The NBR chairman also talked about the matter of speeding up clearance of import consignments.

A section of importers does not take delivery of their import consignments on time, he said at the briefing.

The NBR said it brought changes to regulations to ensure that importers take delivery of their goods fast. It is also implementing a project such that agencies concerned can give approvals to import items online.