Pakistan's leather industry pushes for tax relief, regulatory reforms

May 14, 2026 (MLN): Pakistan's leather industry is facing mounting structural challenges that are hampering its export competitiveness, with stakeholders pointing to high production costs, fragmented compliance requirements, heavy taxation, and limited market access as key barriers holding back a sector with significant untapped potential.

Despite the country's strong livestock base and established manufacturing expertise across leather garments, gloves, footwear, and handbags, industry representatives say the sector continues to struggle under the weight of overlapping regulatory and financial burdens, according to a press release issued.

These concerns were formally raised in a consultative meeting between Federal Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan and leather industry representatives, where delegates presented a range of challenges and reform proposals aimed at strengthening the sector's growth and export potential.

Industry delegates called for a simplified, harmonized compliance framework and a single-window taxation channel to reduce the regulatory burden imposed by overlapping federal, provincial, and municipal authorities.

Representatives flagged that multiple inspections, certifications, and approvals were adding to operational inefficiencies and eroding export margins.

Stakeholders also pointed to difficulties in import financing and high duties on industrial raw materials as key factors undermining the sector's ability to compete in international markets.

Preliminary budget proposals shared during the meeting included tariff rationalization, duty adjustments on raw materials, and targeted tax relief for export-oriented manufacturing units.

Minister Jam Kamal Khan acknowledged the concerns raised and emphasized that boosting export competitiveness would require both immediate facilitation measures and long-term structural reforms.

He reaffirmed the Ministry of Commerce's commitment to sustained engagement with industry stakeholders, with the meeting concluding on a note of continued public-private collaboration to unlock the leather sector's full export potential.

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