ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Thursday issued two more SROs to provide exemption from taxes/duties on import of onion and tomatoes to Stabilize Commodity prices escalating due to floods. Recent floods have brought unprecedented crop damage, said a press release issued here. As a result, the prices of onion and tomatoes have sky-rocketed in the local markets. In order to alleviate the sufferings of the people due to abnormal price hike, the Prime Minister of Pakistan ordered urgent relief measures to ensure an uninterrupted supply of onion and tomato in the local markets. Elimination of all taxes and duties in procuring the two vegetables by import will help reduce their prices. In line with the vision of the Prime Minister, and on the directions of the Federal Government, the FBR has exempted all duties and taxes on import of onion and tomatoes. Such imports were already exempt from Customs duty but were chargeable to 17% sales tax, 3% additional sales tax and 1% income tax. Now these can be imported duty / taxes free till 31.12.2022. Earlier, FBR issued 5 SROs which exempted from duties and taxes all goods that are needed for flood relief operations as certified by NDMA or a PDMA. Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar on Thursday said the government has decided to allow the duty free import of vegetables from neighboring countries immediately to stable the demand and supply chain of the out of stock commodities in the local markets. Talking to a private news channel, the minister said the government was taking steps to facilitate the importers and issued license within a day to import tomatoes and onions as the current flood has swept away the crops. He said the government was also viewing to import the commodities on lower prices from Afghanistan and Iran to normalize the rates and ensure supply in the market. Syed Naveed Qamar said the government was vigilant and would take every step to control the prices which were spiked due to devastating flood. The ministry in collaboration with traders was ensuring the supply of food items on normal prices.