Lac Cess Act, 1930

The Lac Cess Act, 1930 imposes an export cess (a form of customs duty) on lac and refuse lac — a resin historically used in dyes, varnishes, and shellac — when exported from Pakistan. Section 3 is the core levy provision: a cess is charged on all exported lac and refuse lac, historically set at seven annas per maund for lac and five annas per maund for refuse lac (both pre-decimal currency units from the colonial era), or at whatever other rate the Federal Government fixes by Gazette notification.

Section 2 defines "lac" to include manufactured or unmanufactured lac other than refuse lac, and defines "lac cess" as the customs duty this Act imposes.

This Act has been heavily stripped down over time: Sections 4, 5, 5A, 6, 7, 9, and 12 have all been omitted or repealed by later amending laws (notably the 1950 amendment and a 1982 ordinance dealing with agricultural product cesses), leaving mainly the core levy in Section 3 and the rule-making power in Section 8, with Section 10 requiring such rules to be published in the official Gazette.

Given its age (1930) and the number of provisions already removed, and the fact that the stated rate is expressed in obsolete annas-per-maund units, this Act's currently applicable rate and scope should be checked against the latest Federal Government notification rather than relied on from the text alone.