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Paper importers demand duty cut


Published : 22 Jun 2019 08:33 PM | Updated : 07 Sep 2020 05:34 PM

Country's paper and printing sector businessmen on Saturday urged the government to bring down the import duty of paper from existing 25 percent to 5 percent in order to ensure smooth supply of the item and help the local industry flourish. Six associations– Bangladesh Paper Importers Association, Bangladesh Paper Merchants Association, Bangladesh Pathapustuk Mudron O Biponon Samity, Chattogram Paper O Selophin Babosai Group, Metropolitan Press Owners Association, and Bangladesh Mudron Shilpo Samity – raised the demand at a joint press conference at the Economic Reporters’ Forum auditorium in Dhaka.

Addressing the press conference, Md Shafiqul Islam Bharosa, president of Bangladesh Paper Importers Association said their businesses are gradually turning into losing concerns because of the high duty. “The import duty has been continuing for a long time. Now it is a question of survival for us. Because of the higher duty, there is misuse of paper and boards imported under the bonded warehouse facility,” Bharosa said.

The duty is 10 percent in India and there is another 12 percent GST (goods and service tax), bringing the total tax incidence to 22 percent only, according to Bharosa. Bharosa went on saying the industry has huge prospect in the coming days. These are no longer luxury items. Already, local manufacturers are getting export orders.

The key raw materials for the country’s printing, publication and packaging industries are duplex board, art paper, art card, Swedish board, folding box board and self adhesive paper and these have huge demand in Bangladesh. But these products are not produced in Bangladesh. There are some paper mills in the country that only produce papers used for writing, newsprint, media and liner paper, cigarette paper, tissue paper and substandard board.

But there is very high duty on the imported paper and boards, Shahid Serneabat, chairman of the Printing Industries Association of Bangladesh. Because of the 25 percent import duty, the total tax for the products stand at 60.73 percent. If the import duty is brought down to 5 percent, the overall tax incidence will be 32.40 percent, according to the organizers.

Imported products are no way competitors to the local paper mills, said Serneabat. The imported raw materials are also being used in other industries such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food processing, and electric as well as in invitation cards, sweet box, wall calendar, and desk calendar. The organizers say they are not against the products brought under the bonded warehouse facility. But the reality is these products are being sold in open market. As a result, the government is losing Tk 2,000 crore in annual revenue, whereas dishonest businessmen are making the benefits.

If import duty is cut to 5 percent and the bonded warehouse facility for importers is maintained, then the misuse of bonded facility will come to an end and the market is stabilized, they said. The government fixed 5 percent import duty on plastic raw materials two years ago in order to stop the misuse of the bonded warehouse facility – a decision that is giving more revenues for the government, according to Tofayal Khan, president of the Bangladesh Textbook Printing and Marketing Association.

“The same can be done in case of commercial import of paper and paper board,| he said. Every year, about 5 lakh tonnes paper and paper boards are imported, according to the organizers. Md Zahurul Islam, general secretary of the Printing Industries Association of Bangladesh, said local paper mills should not oppose the legal import of papers and paper boards. Fazlur Rahman Parbat, president of the Bangladesh Paper Merchants' Association and Mohammed Belal, general secretary of the Chittagong Papers and Cellophane Business Group, were present.