Prime Minister Imran Khan has stressed introducing a track and trace system at the earliest to avoid massive tax evasion in major sectors such as sugar, cement, fertilizers, and tobacco industry.

Chairing a meeting of the federal cabinet in Islamabad on Tuesday, PM Khan pointed out that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has been striving to bring this system over the last fifteen years but every time their efforts are sabotaged.

The Prime Minister said only two companies are paying taxes in the cigarette industry whilst forty percent cigarettes are being sold in black.

Prime Minister Imran Khan said the FBR had assured to roll out the track and trace system by July this year but now the Sindh High Court has given a stay on it.

On Monday, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) issued notices to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) to submit their comments for selection of the successful company for the implementation of track and trace system for tobacco products, cement, sugar and fertilizer.

Last month, PM Khan stated that once fully functional in July 2021, the system would add hundreds “of billions of additional revenue, curb counterfeiting and help establish rule of law.”

Earlier, the Stop Illicit Trade (SIT), an advisory forum for the prevention of illicit trade in the country, has stated that Illicit trade of cigarettes causes loss of Rs. 44 billion annually to the exchequer.