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In 2003, in order to prevent the spread of foreign pests and diseases and improve the situation of environmental degradation in Pakistan, the Central Taxation Administration of Pakistan had notified the suspension of customs clearance applications for imported plants and logs until the Plant Protection Bureau under the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry ordered the lifting of the regulations. ban.

Recently, Indian Finance Minister Miftah Ismail officially issued a new order, announcing that timber imported from the United States and Europe will be released without providing the phytosanitary certificate of the exporting country. The order was formally given to the finance minister at a meeting with a delegation from the Karachi Timber Merchants Group (KTMG).

In response to the order, Finance Minister Ismail made it clear that in the absence of phytosanitary certificates, timber shipments will be cleared by December. Also, it is important to note that only fumigated wood will be removed by the authorities.

KTMG chairman Sharjeel Goplani, who was part of the delegation, said Finance Minister Ismail will review the amendments to Self-Regulation Regulation No. 545 issued in this regard and seek the approval of the draft amendments by the Cabinet Department.

As we all know, Pakistan's forest resources are relatively scarce, and its total forest coverage only accounts for 2 to 5% of the country's land area, which is far lower than the 12% occupancy rate recommended by the United Nations. In recent years, due to serious deforestation, the country's forest trees are declining.

Although the Pakistani government has formulated a long-term national forestry development plan since 1992 to restore its domestic forests, with the country's growing demand for timber, the current forest coverage rate is still only 1.57%. 75% of the country's demand is for softwoods, but there is also demand for hardwoods, including ash, oak and maple.

For this reason, at the meeting, Pakistani timber importers proposed to reduce the sales tax on imported timber from 15% to 7%, but the proposal was opposed by the Minister of Finance Ismail on the grounds that the current sales tax rate is different from the IMF (International Monetary Fund). organization) plan. However, he hinted that the sales tax rate on timber imports could be reduced by 3% in the future.

Earlier, Pakistan Customs, the Ministry of Plant Protection and the Karachi Timber Merchants Association reached a tripartite agreement on the import mechanism of timber and its products.