Import reforms: Do first, think later?

"The government is examining a proposal to end age limit on the import of used and second-hand construction machinery including dumpers", informed various newspapers on Monday.
These publications attributed the claim to official sources within the Ministry of Commerce as well as the Federal Board of Revenue, explaining that at present, the Import Policy Order limits the import of such machinery to an age limit of 10 years.
Although this amendment is still only being "considered by policy makers", the impact of such a broad stroke to import restrictions must be well thought out before such a change is adopted. For starters, this proposal will bode well for revenue collection, because the private sector may be tempted to import older (read: cheaper) equipment for existing or upcoming projects.
However the efficacy of this policy will most likely be limited to some improvement in revenues through Customs. Policy makers must be mindful of the fact that construction machinery is a very broad term. While a lot of the equipment classified under this head may well have productive lives exceeding 10 years; there is a sizeable proportion of items that are not very efficient, if at all operational after being used for a decade or more.
Consequently, instead of allowing all and sundry to import everything archaic under the sun into the country, only those items should be incentivised that cannot be made available locally, are vital for construction activities and can be demonstrated to have an operational life that significantly exceeds 10 years.
The whole argument behind age limits on imports such as the one being discussed here is that they ensure the country does not become the worlds dumping ground for obsolete equipment. A customs duty of five percent is hardly enough to deter such practices.
Interestingly the same two government departments are simultaneously considering a ban on the import of old water tankers to the country. Why such imports were allowed in the first place, is food for thought in itself.
Considerations such as these reek of short sightedness. After all, are large scale manufacturing, developmental projects and construction activities stalling because of a lack of equipment?
While this may be a contributing factor; it pales in comparison to the core issues of stagnating development expenditures and a crowding out of the private sector because of excessive government borrowing from the financial system.
There is a dire need to address the overarching hurdles in this economys path to progress. Letting in the worlds obsolete equipment will not be a step in this direction.