Pak: Traders in PoGB continue sit-in despite conditional tax exemptions

PoGB(Pakistan): Traders in Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan (PoGB) have decided to continue their sit-in despite the government agreeing to conditionally exempt imports routed through the Sost Dry Port from key federal taxes, trade leader Javed Hussain, who has been leading the protest, Dawn reported on Thursday.

Traders in PoGB have been staging the sit-in since July, blocking the port to protest against taxation policies and the suspension of customs clearance.

Following talks in Islamabad between the federal government, the PoGB administration and local business leaders, it was announced that tax exemptions would be granted on imports through the port, provided the goods were for local consumption and subject to strict eligibility conditions. The exemptions were capped at PKR 4 billion annually.

Hussain said traders rejected the settlement. “After the agreement and its announcement in Islamabad, it was suggested to us to end the protest. But we don’t agree with this [suggestion] and have decided to continue the sit-in and keep the trade suspended,” he said, as reported by Dawn.

He added that traders would now meet with their representative body that held talks with the government. “If its members were able to give a satisfactory justification regarding yesterday’s agreement, traders would deliberate on whether to continue the protest,” Hussain said.

“Setting a limit on imports and placing a cap of PKR 4bn goes against our demands,” he asserted, adding that traders’ demands were based on PoGB’s “legal status” in the country and the “exemption it was provided under the Constitution.”

According to Hussain, the Islamabad decision contradicted these principles. “We are of the view that by setting a limit on imports, decision-makers have [failed to resolve] the fundamental dispute,” he said.

He further pointed out that no statutory regulatory order (SRO) had been issued so far, only an agreement finalised. “We are carefully reviewing the provisions of this agreement,” Hussain told Dawn. He reiterated that traders were not satisfied and could move to a “Plan C.”

The trade leader said stakeholders would also be consulted to discuss the shortcomings of the agreement before any decision to end the protest. He questioned why “dozens of containers that were stuck for several months” were not being cleared through an SRO, and why other procedures were being adopted instead. (ANI)