Duty exemption on essential commodities to remain unchanged

The government will continue the existing duty exemptions or concessions to the essential commodities in the 2016-17 financial year (FY17). 

Finance minister AMA Muhith proposed it in his budget speech FY 2016-17 on Thursday and said "I am proposing the continuation of the existing duty exemptions or concessions accorded to the essential commodities including edible oil, sugar, pulse, onion, garlic etc."

He proposed to continue the existing duty tax concessions to existing items along with some new items for continuous and sustainable development of the poultry sector. 

The Minister said most of the machines used in our agriculture are either fully exempted from customs duties and taxes or can be imported at concessionary rate and some of these machines are being made locally. 

Because of high duties on some parts used for the manufacture of such machines, their local production cannot be competitive, he added. 

He said "On this consideration, and on certain conditions, I am proposing to reduce import duties to 1 percent on those selected parts."

Source: BSS.