KARACHI – Smuggled tyres of all sizes are now readily available in the market after a visible slow down last year due to government crackdown.
Though of inferior quality, people usually prefer smuggled tyres due to their low prices without knowing the repercussions.
Out of annual sale of 14.5 million tyres in Pakistan, around 25 per cent demand is met by domestic production, 10pc by legal import and the rest by smuggling.
The import of tyres has decreased significantly last year due to the devaluation of local currency against the US dollar and this shortage has been filled by the heavy influx of smuggled tyres.
The gravity of the situation could be gauged by the fact that the Collectorate of Customs Enforcement (CCE) has confiscated over 55,000 smuggled tyres mainly bigger car tyre sizes worth Rs 540 million in Karachi last year.
Manufacturers and business community have urged the government to take effective measures to curb the smuggling of tyres to improve the competitiveness of the local industry and provide equal business opportunities to the legal importers.
“Local industry is the back bone of any economy. It is the primary responsibility of the government to provide protection. Local industry create employment opportunities, pay taxes to national exchequer and save forex for the country”, said Hussain Kuli Khan, CEO GTR. He said that smuggling of tyres was damaging local industry and costing the national exchequer more than Rs 70 billion annually.
He mentioned that the smuggled tyres arrive in substandard conditions, exhibiting torn tyre beads and structure that too along with tampered dates. Subsequently, the smugglers employ mechanical tools to rectify the deformed tyres, significantly diminishing their operational lifespan and posing a considerable risk to public safety. Additionally, forged documents are circulated to make these tyres appear identical as per the import GDs of other imported consignments.
“The government should re-evaluate the data of the items being imported via the Afghan Transit Trade (ATT) and see if the numbers of tyres being imported are supported by the vehicle population in Afghanistan. Items under the guise of ATT are either unloaded in Karachi or come back from the Afghan border via smuggling and this need to be addressed,” said Hussain.
