The vintage cars, known for their glory, are the apple of many Pakistanis' eyes. But recently, a policy terminated the import of vintage used cars in the country. Last week during a meeting held at the Ministry of commerce, a proposal regarding the benefits of importing vintage cars was presented but was rejected by the cabinet.
The commerce division stated the Import Policy Order (IPO) according to which the Pakistani residents are not allowed to import used vehicles which include vintage vehicles as well. According to this policy, the import of second-hand vehicles in Pakistan is strongly condemned except for the ones that were specifically exempted under Chapter 87.
SRO 833(I)/2018 was issued by the Federal Board of Revenue on 3rd July 2018, according to which a cumulative duty of $5000 was imposed on the import of used vintage vehicles over 50 years old. But, due to the ban on the import of vintage vehicles according to the Import Policy Order SRO could not be applied.
In January 2019, a summary was sent to the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) by the Commerce Division to amend the IPO. The summary advised allowing the import and import-cum-export of vintage cars. But sadly, the proposal was rejected.
At the same moment, some of the vehicles were already imported under SRO, which allowed heavy-duty import. The importers of these vehicles started approaching several courts for releasing their cars.
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Their argument included that the import was made based on SRO and they were not aware of the ban of the vintage car import. Some courts allowed the release of the vehicles on the request but some denied making any amendment in the Import Policy Order.
The chief justice of Sindh high court analyzed critically the situation at hand. He created a larger bench to solve the issue regarding the import of vintage cars keeping in view both policies, SRO and the Import Policy Order. The respondents included the Ministry of Commerce, the Federal Board of Revenue, and the Collectors of custom.
On September 10, 2021, the larger bench agreed with the viewpoint of the Ministry of Commerce stating that unless an amendment is made to the Import Policy Order in terms of section 3 of the Imports and Exports Act 1950, the import of vintage cars is strictly prohibited.
For the vehicles that were already imported, the court directed the federal government to consider the application under paragraph 21 of the IPO to give one-time relaxation. Resultantly, the Ministry of Commerce requested approval for the one-time exemption from the cabinet. But, the cabinet rejected the summary.
The Import Policy Order only allows the import of cars that are under 3 years old considering them in the new car category. Moreover, the import of vintage vehicles is allowed only on the condition of transfer of residence and as personal baggage.
