Import of Goods (Price Equalization Surcharge) Act, 1967

This Act allows the Federal Government to levy an extra duty, called a price equalization surcharge, on certain imported goods when they are imported more cheaply from some sources than others, so as to even out prices in the domestic market regardless of where the goods came from.

Section 3 is the core charging provision: for goods listed in the Schedule and specified by the Federal Government, if a shipment's "landed cost" (the total of price paid, duties, taxes, fees, and other import charges) is lower than the highest landed cost declared for that class of goods in that shipping period, the surcharge equals the difference, bringing the cheaper import up to the highest rate. Section 3A lets the government authorise partial or full repayment of surcharge already paid, under prescribed conditions.

Section 4 requires the Federal Government to determine and Gazette-notify the "highest rate" of landed cost for each specified good every shipping period, based on information importers must supply; failing to supply this information is treated as an offence under the Imports and Exports (Control) Act, 1950. Section 5 provides that the surcharge is collected the same way as customs duty under the Customs Act, 1969. Sections 6 and 6A give the government rule-making power and the power to add or remove goods from the Schedule.

The Schedule (as it survives after several rounds of amendment) lists items such as galvanized and G.C. sheets, M.S. plates and sheets, cement, sulphur, tallow, synthetic rubber, and certain raw materials for the steel, electrical, diesel engine, and tube-well/pumping sectors, though many original Schedule entries have since been omitted by government notification.

This is an old law from 1967, amended repeatedly through 1968, 1974, 1975, and 1981, with much of its original Schedule already stripped out; anyone relying on it should verify against current SROs and the present-day Schedule which goods, if any, are still actually subject to this surcharge.