Cement meant for export to Afghanistan is being sold locally in border cities

[Naveed Yaseen]

By Khalid Mustafa
ISLAMABAD: Cement meant for export to Afghanistan is being sold in the markets of Quetta and Peshawar prompting the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association to advise its members to take serious note of this illegal sale.

Alarmed by this malpractice allegedly by certain dealers and distributors, APCMA Chairman Maj Gen (Retd) Rehmat Khan, in a letter, says that it has come to his notice that some of the cement meant for export to Afghanistan via Chaman and Torkham is being sold in Quetta and Peshawar markets.

The APCMA described it a serious violation due to which the cement manufacturers could be placed in a tight spot as this amounted to evasion of tax.

The Association maintained that the cement industry was paying high taxes, to the tune of around Rs2 billion every month, to the government. Rehmat, in his letter, asked the cement manufacturers to exercise strict control over all their export distributors as ultimately it was the exporters’ responsibility to ensure that the cement marked for export is exported and not sold in the local market.

He expressed the confidence that the cement manufacturers would ensure that necessary steps are taken to avoid occurrence of such incidents. “I would also appreciate your input or feed back on this subject,” the APCMA Chairman concluded in his letter.

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