Iran, Afghanistan and Russia: SRO amended to smoothen mechanism for barter trade

ISLAMABAD: The Commerce Ministry has amended the SRO to smooth its mechanism for barter trade (BT) with Iran, Afghanistan and Russia.

According to the SRO,- (i) in clause (e), after the word “goods” the words “between two countries” shall be inserted; (ii) after clause (h), the following new clause shall be inserted namely:- (i) “consortium” means private entities’ two or more” from Pakistan which enter into a contract for barter trade with a private entity, one or more, of a single trading partner; (iii) in clause (g), the word “and” shall be omitted (iv) in clause (h), for full the stop at the end a semi colon and word “and” shall be substituted and thereafter the following new clause shall be inserted, namely:- 0) (c) (d) “sanctioned entity” means any individual or the company that is prohibited from engaging in trade activities due to the enforcement of trade prohibitions by United Nations (UN) and others, as notified by Ministry of Foreign Affairs from time to time..

Afghanistan, Iran and Russia: ECC approves draft SRO to amend B2B barter trade rules

In para 4, in sub-para (2), after the words “entities”, the words “individual or consortium” shall be inserted; in para 5, 1i) in “clause (2), for the expression “duly verified by the Pakistani Mission in the country for which barter facility has been authorized, certifying the facts that the subject foreign company, individuals and proposed goods for BT are ‘Non-sanctioned’, as notified by Ministry of Foreign Affairs from (e) time to time”, the expression “along with an Undertaking by the Pakistani private entity, consortium or concerned Chamber of Commerce and Industry that the foreign company or individual for BT is not a sanctioned entity by the United Nations (UN) and others, as notified by Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from time to time” shall be substituted; (ii) in clause (4), for the expression “in respect of the commodities and from the countries as specified in Appendix-A to this order” the expression “as specified in Import Policy Order (IPO) and Export Policy Order (EPO) for the time being in force” shall be substituted in para 6,- (i) for sub-para ( I ), the following shall be substituted, namely:- “(l) The export and import may be made to the extent of value of imported and exported goods subject to the tolerance mechanism provided hereinafter for any exigency.

In sub-para (2), after the word “importer”, the words “and exporter” shall be inserted; (iii) sub-para (6), shall be omitted (iv) in sub-para (9), after the word “for assessed import”, the words “or export” shall be inserted; (v) in sub-para (l l), after the word “all imports”, the words “and exports” shall be inserted; (vi) after sub-para (l l), amended as aforesaid, the following new sub paras shall be inserted, namely:- “(12) The Pakistani trader shall be responsible for netting off the value of goods quarterly, i.e., within 120 days of the transaction wholly or partially allowed by the concerned regulatory Collectorate of Customs in the authorization. The regulatory Collectorate of Customs shall monitor the net off value of goods on a quarterly basis, and in case of failure to net-off, the value of goods by the trader, the authorization shall become invalid and the regulatory Collectorate of Customs may initiate further action under the applicable laws and procedures including the Customs Act, 1969 (IV of 1969)” (13).

In case of a consortium of traders, all entities that are 2 part of a consortium shall be jointly and severally responsible, if found, involved in, or have committed any offence or failed to pay duties or taxes under the Customs Act, 1969 (IV of 1969) or other law for the time being in force.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025