CCCI seeks duty cut on scrapped ship

Chittagong, June 23 (bdnews24.com) ? The Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) has urged the government not to raise duty on import of scrapped ship, the main raw material for local iron and steel mills.

The call was made on Thursday in a statement signed by chamber president Murshed Murad Ibrahim.

Finance minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhith proposed increasing per-tonne import duty on scrapped ship to Tk 1,500 in the national budget for 2011-'12 fiscal from the existing Tk 1,000.

Murshed requested the finance minister to keep the rate at Tk 1,000 per tonne and withdraw the additional three percent adjusted tax value (ATV), proposed in the budget placed in parliament on June 9.

Claiming that ship-breaking industry is playing a vital role in economic development and creating employment, he said instability has been prevailing in the sector for the last one year due to various reasons.

He said the government exchequer received more than Tk 80 billion from the sector every year.

Pointing out that the sector was trying to perform better after prime minister Sheikh Hasina had declared it as an industry, the CCCI president said an adverse situation might crop up in the sector due to increase in the import duty and imposition of ATV.

He apprehends that the proposed tax structure will invite difficulties in the steel re-rolling mills and destabilise the entire iron and steel market.

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