ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Wednesday allowed urea import of 50,000 tonnes from China.

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin presided over the meeting, where a summary for the import of urea from China was tabled by the Ministry of Industries and Production.

The committee tasked the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to import the urea from China and to negotiate the price with the Chinese suppliers authorised by the government of China for further import of urea subject to clearance from the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA).

Sources in the Ministry of Finance said this decision was taken as a result of panic buying of urea.

“This year, the sowing area of wheat has increased because the farmers are getting lucrative prices from the market,” the sources said, adding that a few incidents of urea smuggling to Afghanistan has been reported and that’s why the government took this decision.

The Ministry of Commerce also submitted a summary for rationalisation of tariff on the import of vehicles and other items requested by the Ministry of Industries and Production and other sectors.

The meeting approved the recommendations of the Tariff Policy Board with some modifications. The ECC also decided to review some recommendations relating to the automotive sector after six months.

It decided to impose 10 per cent R&D on electric vehicles of 50kV and above. It also decided to increase R&D on hybrid vehicles and 850cc cars to 50 per cent from 15 per cent.

The ECC also approved the requests of technical supplementary grants (TSG) presented by the Petroleum and Finance divisions. The request of the Power Division for TSG was also approved subject to the reconciliation with the Finance Division.

Federal ministers for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam; Industries and Production, Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar; Energy, Hammad Azhar; Privatisation Muhammedmian Soomro; Water Resources Chaudhry Moonis Elahi; Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood; federal secretaries and senior officers attended the meeting.