IPMA Calls For Hike In Import Duty On Paper, Paperboards To 25% In Upcoming Budget

The body called for issuance of quality control orders for several grades of paper to maintain the supply of quality products to Indian customers and keep a tab on the import of sub-standard products

The domestic paper and paperboard manufacturers called for the import duty on paper products to be hiked by 25 per cent, along with an imposition of a quality control order in the upcoming Budget. The Indian Paper Manufacturers Association (IPMA) issued a statement on Monday and urged the government to look into increasing the basic customs duty on the import of paper and paperboard from 10 per cent to 25 per cent. 

The industry body noted that India’s WTO (World Trade Organisation) Bound rate is 40 per cent on these products, reported PTI. The association also demanded the issuance of quality control orders (QCOs) for different grades of paper to maintain the supply of quality products to Indian customers and keep a tab on the import of sub-standard products into the country. 

Pawan Agarwal, President, IPMA, called on the government to keep paper and paperboard on the negative list and review the existing free trade agreements (with ASEAN, South Korea, and Japan) , and develop new ones. He noted that any hike in customs duty would not affect the duty-free imports coming into the country under the FTAs. “Suitable safeguard, anti-dumping and countervailing duties on imports of various grades of paper should be expeditiously imposed, especially after the recommendation of the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR),” he said. 

Notably, the first half of the current fiscal year saw a 43 per cent increase in the imports of paper and paperboard, after witnessing a 25 per cent increase in the preceding fiscal year in volume terms. As such the paper industry in the country has called for increasing the import duty in the upcoming Budget to help level the market for the domestic manufacturers, the industry body stated. 

The association further noted that the paper industry has been feeling the stress due to the underutilisation of capacity ‘in view of the indiscriminate increase in the import of paper and paperboard. What is hurting all the more is the fact that the imports of paper and paperboard into India have been increasing in spite of adequate domestic production capacity straddling all kinds of paper’. Agarwal noted that imports have been increasing at a higher rate than the growth in domestic production, resulting in the underutilisation of the domestic installed capacity in the country.