Replacement of words ‘federal government’ with word ‘authority’: Cabinet redirects Ministries, Divisions to amend laws, rules

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Cabinet has directed ministries/Divisions again to review and amend their respective laws/rules and policies to substitute the word ‘federal government’ with other appropriate ‘authority’ aimed at not further burdening the Cabinet with routine cases, well-informed sources told Business Recorder.

These directions were reissued at federal cabinet meeting on February 15, 2022, presided over by Prime Minister Imran Khan when a proposal of Commerce Ministry titled “one-time release of Peugeot 2008 Allure 1.2t (petrol) vehicle exported by M/s Peugeot, Finance for durability test” came under consideration.

The Commerce Division noted that Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) approached the Ministry of Commerce with the request to issue necessary condonation/exemption in favour of the vehicle, which was pending customs clearance.

MoFA stated that M/S Peugeot, the largest automaker of France, had entered into a Joint Venture with Lucky Motors, for manufacturing of Peugeot 2008 SUV vehicles in Pakistan.

For the purposes of durability test etc, M/s Peugeot exported two units of Peugeot 2008 (Allure 1.2T), one electric and one petrol, to Pakistan, as per B/L No. VGO-02136901 of July 21, 2021 read with invoice No.CEU 052101 of May 4, 2021. However, Peugeot 2008Allure 1.2t (Petrol), VIN No.VR3USHNLJ 673073, manufactured in June 2020, was denied release because it exceeded its statutorily permissible period of importation by over 20 days.

According to Commerce Division, the delay in shipment was attributable to global supply chain disruptions caused by Covid-19-related restrictions. Thus, the late departure of the vessel in July 2021, instead of June 2021, allowed the importation of the vehicle, manufactured in June 2020,to be prohibited.

As per para-2(m) of the Import Policy Order (IPO), 2020 a vehicle could be imported as brand new, if it was imported within 12 months of manufacturing, and neither registered nor used for more than 500 kilometers before importation. As such, a vehicle which did not comply with the existing provision of the IPO could not be treated as new, making it not-importable in terms of Sr. No. 10 of Appendix-C (list of items which were banned for import in old/used condition) of IPO 2020.

In terms of Paragraph-20 of IPO 2020, however, federal government (Cabinet) was empowered to allow import of any good in condonation of any conditions or prohibitions (bans) contained in IPO.

Commerce Ministry argued that in order to send a positive message that investment of foreign investor was honoured and protected in Pakistan, approval of the Cabinet was solicited for one-time condonation for release of the vehicle. The Federal Board of Revenue had supported the proposal.

During discussion, Minister for Law, Dr Farogh Naseem pointed out that despite directions of Federal Cabinet, the ministries/Division had failed to carry out amendments to laws/rules and policies to replace the word ‘federal government’ with appropriate authority, as a result of which every routine case came for the approval of the Cabinet.

After discussion, the Cabinet accorded approval of proposal of Commerce Division and also redirected ministries/Divisions to change the word ‘federal government’ with appropriate authority.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022