Around 500,000 metric tons of steel is smuggled annually, causing the loss of around Rs.25 billion to the government treasury.
Wajid Bukhari, the Secretary General of Pakistan Association of Large Steel Producers said, The scale of smuggling we are witnessing is unprecedented and has reached a critical level. If immediate action is not taken, irreparable damage will occur to our industry.
He was talking about the severe effects of smuggling of steel bars from Iran and Afghanistan. The PALSP says that about 500,000 metric tons of steel is smuggled annually, causing the loss of around Rs.25 billion to the government treasury.
The Association has been constantly appealing to the government to take appropriate action to address the alarming issue but things seem to be unanswered. Prime Minister, Shahbaz Sharif himself took the notice and formed an inter-agency committee which was tasked to devise a comprehensive strategy to control the smuggling.
The Federal Board of Revenue too started a crackdown operation at all the locations but all the things proved to be the matter of temporary relief.
In the last meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and revenue, Senators exposed the involvement of official patronage in smuggling. Surprisingly, the fixed rates for smuggled goods were uncovered with fees charges for truckloads of illicit steel ranging from Rs.500,000 to Rs.600,000.
The Pakistan Association of Large Steel Producers said that the ratio of this smuggling comes to around 15 percent of the total steel manufacturing capacity of the country. If this hazardous activity is not stopped with iron hand, it is expected that the steel manufacturing unit may close down, resulting the big unemployment. Moreover, the billions of invested amount may be at a stake. The PALSP presented a number of recommendation to control the smuggling.