SIALKOT, Sept 16: The chamber and trade associations of Sialkot on Monday asked the Federal Board of Revenue to immediately withdraw SRO505 and 98 which they felt would jack up the cost of production.

These SROs would be effective from next month.

Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) President Sheikh Abdul Majid said that these SROs, if implemented, would increase the cost of production by 8 per cent to 10pc.

He demanded the tax authorities to announce withdrawal of these SROs to save the export-oriented cottage industries of Sialkot.

“The government is blatantly ignoring Sialkot’s exporters. The exporters are already facing a severe energy crisis and these SROs will prove to be the last straw,” he said.

Majid pointed out that the Sialkot-based industrialists and exporters would also have to play the role of ‘tax collectors’ and “sales tax withholding agents’ if SRO505 was implemented.

He criticised the non-serious attitude of the FBR and said that the cottage industry would collapse after the implementation of SRO505.

The city’s annual exports to the tune of $1.5bn would come to a halt.