ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Commerce on Tuesday said it is working to finalise calculations for payment of duty drawback to eight sectors.

This was disclosed in a meeting to review the implementation of duty drawback rates recalculation exercise. The meeting was chaired by Adviser to PM on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood.

The meeting was informed that the commerce ministry had earlier selected 11 sectors for recalculation, out of which revised rates for duty drawback have been duly notified in three sectors: leather hides, plastic goods and carpets. The exercise for the remaining eight sectors is in final stages and will be completed shortly.

An official announcement said the changes in the Customs Act 1969 and Customs Rules, which cover the procedures of payment of duty drawbacks were also shared during the meeting. Under the amended act and rules, duty drawbacks will be directly credited to the bank accounts of exporters by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

The calculation of the duty drawback amounts will be done by Pakistan Customs` computerised WeBOC system without any human involvement based on risk-manage-ment system. However, this will require a secure line for data sharing between the Pakistan Customs database and the SBP, which is currently being worked out and would be complete d in the next month.

It was further explained that, under the new rules, all kinds of duties, including customs, additional customs, special customs and regulatory will now be part of duty drawback.

In addition, to make the process of calculation of rates of duty drawback hassle free, Input-Output Co-ef ficient Organization (IOCO) director general has been authorised, through a change of rules, to calculate the rates at 6HS or 4HS codes instead of detailed exercise at 8HS codes level if the variation is within 10pc in a particular sector.

Commenting on the amended rules, Dawood reiterated that the use of locally-produced raw material may be incentivised to reduce reliance on imported goods and boost industrialisation in the country.

He said that after the completion of the exercise in all 11 sectors, the focus will be shifted to developmental sectors including chemicals, engineering, iron and steel, ceramics and pharmaceuticals.

He further directed his team to prepare a plan for the entire exercise, which would be shared with businessmen for their feedback.