Agricultural Produce Cess Act, 1940

This 1940 Act imposes a customs duty ("cess") on certain agricultural products exported from Pakistan, listed in the Act's Schedule. Section 3 sets the duty at one-half of one percent ad valorem on all Schedule articles exported from Pakistan, with an exception for articles proven not to have been produced in Pakistan, and lets the Federal Government vary the duty rate or fix tariff values for Schedule articles by official notification.

Section 4 lets the Federal Government exclude any Schedule article from the duty by notification, for as long as that notification remains in force. Section 5 allows the Federal Board of Revenue to make rules for refunding duty on articles exported by land and later re-imported into Pakistan, and for allowing land export without duty payment where the goods will later be re-imported.

Much of the original Act (Sections 2, 5A-5C, 6-6D, 7-9, and 11) has been omitted by later amendments, notably a 1982 ordinance, leaving Section 10 (as substituted) as the main rule-making provision: the Federal Government may, after prior publication, make rules to carry out the Act's purposes. Section 12 requires all rules made under Section 10 to be published in the official Gazette.

The Schedule lists twenty-one specific agricultural products subject to the cess: bones, bristles, butter, cereals (other than rice and wheat), drugs, fibre for brushes, fish, fruits, ghee, raw hides, manures, oilcakes, pulses, seeds, raw skins, spices, unmanufactured tobacco, vegetables, wheat, wheat flour, and raw wool.

This is an old 1940 revenue law that has been substantially trimmed down by amendment (much of its original machinery is now "Omitted"), leaving a simpler structure focused on the basic export duty and rule-making. Given its age and heavy amendment history, current rates and administrative details should be checked against the official current text.