The Pakistan Leather Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PLGMEA) has presented a round of proposals to the country’s Collector of Customs, Javed Kazi.

These include the extension of Pakistan’s warehousing period to five years allowing a 5% wastage on leather garment accessories and the placing of a penal surcharge on unconsumed goods after the expiry of the bond period.

PLGMEA chairman, Fawad Ijaz Khan, suggested that the Customs department should take samples of leather garments destined for low tariff countries, such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and send them to the Price Check Committee. He also requested that the department investigates delays to the issuance of rebate cheques and the reemergence of pilfering of export assignments at Karachi airport.  

In an additional statement, Fawad Ijaz Khan rejected the Pakistan Tanners Association (PTA) call for a 25% duty on imports of finished leather.

The chairman claimed that imported leather constitutes just 0.4% of the leather used in Pakistan’s production of leather garments. He said that as most tanners only sell rejected and lower grade leather to the garments industry they had been forced to set up their own tanneries or rely on imports from Africa, the Middle East and Iran. He claimed that garment makers have little access to good and medium quality leather as most of it is exported from Pakistan.

Fawad Khan pointed out that the government has already protected the local tanning industry by imposing a 20% duty on exports of raw and wet blue leather and suggested that the imposition of a 20% duty on exports of finished and semi-finished leather would save Pakistan’s leather garment industry, and ensure the availability of good quality leather at a reasonable price.

He reiterated that the leather garment exports declined 38% between July 2002 and April 2003, compared with a 0.23% decline during the year earlier period.

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