KARACHI: People living below the poverty line may have to pay more for used clothes and woolies following 33-126 per cent increase in import trade price (ITP) by the Customs Valuation Department.

Used imported shirt prices which currently ranging from Rs50 to Rs100 would cost over Rs80-150 per piece while trousers would also become costly from the prevailing rate of Rs50-125 per piece.

“Our members are not releasing the containers from port for the last 15-20 days after the increase in ITP,” Pakistan Second Hand Clothing Merchants Association (PSHCMA) President Salim Vakani said.

“We find it hard to pay around Rs 120,000-150,000 extra on each container after the ITP hike,” he said.

The Customs Valuation Department is just looking at the thriving imports of second clothing without analysing that the high ITP would directly hit the poor, he added.

Salim said rising imports of worn clothing means that a large number of people still cannot afford costly clothes (local and branded) due to soaring cost of living, low incomes, poverty and limited purchasing power.

“Bulk of our imports find way into villages and small cities all over Pakistan where poor people are the main buyers,” he said.

After steadily growing for the last few years, import of worn clothing in 2014-15 stood at 466,436 tonnes ($124 million) as compared to 353,831 tonnes ($128m) in 2010-2011, figures of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) revealed.

In July-August 2015, imports mainly arriving from Korea, Japan, China, Far East, Middle East, Europe, USA, Canada, Australia, etc recorded at 78,246 tonnes ($21m) as compared to 72,377 tonnes ($21m) in same period last year.

Muhammad Usman Farooqui, General Secretary, PSHCMA said that Customs had increased the ITP on the pressure of the textile lobby.

He said the government is not bothered about the price of locally made cotton shalwar suits worth Rs3,000-5,000, ladies’ Lawn suits of Rs2,800-7,000 and gents’ trouser prices hovering between Rs 2,000-3,200.

“A container loaded with used clothes arriving at $2,000 from the USA would now cost $8,000 after new enhanced valuation rates,” he informed.

Usman said the government should realise that low income people are easily purchasing imported used pant and shirt from Landa Bazaar at Rs100-200.

Rather than removing or reducing the five per cent sales tax, 3pc additional sales tax, 5pc customs duty and 6pc income tax, the government has increased ITP, he said.

The association urged Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to take notice of the high ITP.

Published in Dawn October 1st, 2015

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