KARACHI: After gaining the approval of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet, the Ministry of Finance, Economic Affairs, Statistics & Revenue has now issued a notification pertaining to the exemption of a motorway project related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) from customs duties and taxes. The ECC had previously considered and now approved the proposal submitted by the Ministry of Communications for an exemption of contractors, for the completion of two early harvest projects under the CPEC, from all customs duties, levies and other relevant taxes, in order to import equipment and construction material. Hence, the government has granted a sales tax exemption for the imported equipment and the construction machinery required for the construction of the Karachi – Peshawar Motorway and the Karakorum-Highway (KKH). In a notification issued on Thursday, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) said “The federal government is pleased to direct that all equipment and construction machinery, if not manufactured locally, imported by M/s China State Construction Engineering Corporation Limited (M/s CSCECL) for the construction of Karachi – Peshawar Motorway (Sukkur – Multan Section) and M/s China Communication Construction Company (M/s CCCC) for the construction of Karakorum Highway (KKH) Phase-ll (Thakot – Havellian Section), shall be exempted from whole of sales tax for the purpose of the said Act subject to fulfilment of same conditions, limitations and restrictions as are stipulated under the Federal Government’s Notification No SRO 642(I)/2016 for availing exemption from levy of customs duty S.R.0. (I)/2016.” Moreover, the Ministry also granted a sales tax exemption to the three imported sets of Braun-i-Scan Body Scanner-Dual View, Model BRAU1950, received by the Anti-Narcotics Force, an attached department of the Narcotics Control Division as a donation from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which was “subject to the condition that the goods shall be used exclusively for the purpose of which these are imported and that the same shall not be disposed of in any way without explicit approval of the FBR.