No customs duty on 7 chemicals to fight Covid-19
THE DEMAND FOR MEDICAL SUPPLIES, TESTING KITS AND OXYGEN HAD SKYROCKETED DURING THE SECOND WAVE
NEW DELHI : The central government has given temporary customs duty exemption on seven organic chemicals used in the pharmaceutical industry in view of Covid.
An official notification from the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) said the relief on six of the chemicals, including egg lecithin and cholesterol HP, are available till the end of August. The duty exemption on another item— raw materials for manufacturing Covid test kits—is available till the end of September, said the notification issued on Monday.
Earlier, the government had given similar exemption on a host of items used in Covid prevention and treatment, including diagnostic (marker) kits and blood gas reagents. It had also temporarily exempted customs duty on vaccines, oxygen, related gear and oxygen transportation equipment to help reduce the cost of these items and improve supplies.
Last month, the GST Council had slashed the tax rates on 18 classes of products, including anti-fungal drug Amphotericin B and Tocilizumab used in treating inflammatory and autoimmune conditions, till the end of September.
The demand for medical supplies, testing kits and oxygen had skyrocketed during the second wave.
The exemption on the seven items is in public interest, the CBIC said. Importers have to follow norms covering shipments eligible for concessional duty.
“The government has exempted basic customs duty on specified active pharma ingredients. This is a wellthought exemption granted to fight Covid and is a step towards making the domestic industry self-reliant while fighting the pandemic,” said Abhishek Jain, tax partner, EY.
The Narendra Modi administration’s current customs duty policy is to encourage import of only raw materials for local value addition.