Govt suspends duties/taxes on import of tomato, onion till Dec 31

In a bid to bring down the increasing prices of tomatoes and onions in Pakistan, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Thursday issued two SROs aimed at suspending the duties on the import of the two commodities till December 31, 2022.

Owing to nationwide floods, the country is facing a scarcity of the two commodities which is driving their prices in the local market upward. In the aftermath of relentless rains, the floods swept away crop fields as well.

“The prime minister has ordered immediate steps to ensure uninterrupted supply of onions and tomatoes to ease the hardships of the people,” read a FBR media release.

Govt likely to allow import of onion, tomato from ‘any source’

The exemption of taxes and duties are expected to reduce the prices of onion and tomato in the local market.

Earlier, the FBR granted exemption on taxes and duties applicable on all items that will be certified by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) or Provincial Disaster Management Authorities (PDMAs).

In comments to Business Recorder on Thursday, Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Importers Exporters Merchants Association (PFVA) Patron-in-Chief Waheed Ahmed said that onion and tomatoes would be imported from Turkey, Egypt, China and Dubai.

He said “prices of these vegetables will come down over the next two to three weeks.”

“Pakistan is already importing tomatoes and onions from Iran and Afghanistan,” he said. “With the addition of more countries to the import basket, it will take two to three weeks for prices of the two items to stablise in the local market because transit time amounts to 15-25 days depending on the country from which the cargo is coming from.”

Import permits for onion, tomato to be issued

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail hinted a few days ago that Pakistan would need to import food items from India to meet the domestic demand in the aftermath of the floods.

However, Ahmed said import from India has not been allowed by the government yet.

More than 80% of Sindh’s onion crop has been destroyed due to floods while tomato crop also endured sizeable damage. Onion crop in Balochistan also took a hit from the torrential rains and floods in the province.

Resultantly, the prices of vegetables and fruits have surged significantly in many parts of the country. For instance, tomatoes are being sold for Rs350-450 per kg while onions are available at Rs150-200 per kg.

It is estimated that 30 million have been directly affected by the floods, with most of them residing in the rural areas. Pakistan expects a hit of $10 billion to the economy due to flooding, according to the finance minister.