Government likely to declare newspapers, periodicals as industry
KARACHI- Newspapers including periodicals would hopefully be declared as an industry by the Government, thus meeting the demand of the majority of the newspaper owners and publishers in the country.
The government is also now favourably inclined to this demand of the newspapers that they be declared an industry. The arguments advanced for getting the status of an industry by the newspapers is that they have a wage board, which includes in its purview all newspaper employees.
For purposes of import and export regulations, the newspapers are treated by Customs as an industry in respect of levy of import duties and other taxes, since newspapers, printing inks, special zinc plates, film roles, processing chemicals and machinery for printing and plat making as also for film making are the components of the newspaper publishing industry just as raw material inputs constitute the imports by various other industries in the country including the textile industry.
In this connection representative have also been received by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of Pakistan from various newspapers managements urging that the newspapers he declared as industry.
The Ministry of Information is very sympathetically inclined to this demand of the newspaper managements in the country. Once newspapers are declared as industry, these would be entitled to the same benefits and facilities in terms of bank financing, imports and replacement balancing and modernisation as other industries in the country.
Source: Business Recorder
Date:7/25/2000
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