SAFTA EXEMPTION Notifications – Duty rates reduced
EXEMPTION and a bar :- NOTIFICATION NO. , Dated: June 30, 2006: The Notification works like this: - There is an Appendix I and an Appendix – II.
Appendix I is the list of countries which are not LDCs (Least Developed Countries) and this list has Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Appendix II lists out the LDCs , namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives and Nepal.
There are three Annexures . Annexure I lists 868 tariff headings, Annexure II has 743 headings and Annexure III has 254 relating to textiles. Now these are basically negative lists.
The notification has a table which is a virtual tariff, which allows two rates of duty for import, one for imports from the LDC countries and the other for the NON LDC countries.
Now Annexure I is a negative list for imports from Pakistan and Sri Lanka – that means the rates as per this notification will not be applicable to imports from Pakistan and Sri Lanka for the goods covered by Annexure I.
Similarly, there is a negative list for imports from LDC countries. The concessional rates will not be applicable for imports of items covered by Annexure II, imported from LDC countries.
And there is a common negative list – Goods covered under Annexure III pertaining to textiles are not covered by this notification; there is another notification for that.
Textiles – a positive list :- NOTIFICATION NO. 68/2006- Cus , Dated: June 30, 2006: The 254 textile items, figuring in Annexure III in the above notification which is a negative list there, are made into a positive list in this notification. The items covered will get a concessional duty when imported from the listed countries!
Now the rates of duty in these notifications are reduced.
Notification NO. and ; Dated: September 23, 2009