What FBR published on 12 and 13 August 2026

The Federal Board of Revenue issued six material final measures during this review period. Two notifications establish the rules and penalty schedule for overstayed customs cargo from 1 October. A third expands product-specific customs concessions under the Pakistan-Uzbekistan preferential trade framework from 14 August.

FBR also granted a time-limited section 8B input-tax adjustment treatment to qualifying steel units, widened the package-level printing option for small confectionery pieces, and added seven more steel companies to the voluntary-corporatization table. None of these six documents is a draft. The new cargo-management notification expressly finalizes rules that were previously published for consultation in July.

The overstayed-cargo framework is now final

S.R.O. 1347(I)/2026, dated 13 August, adds the final Overstayed Cargo Management Rules, 2026 to the Customs Rules, 2001. FBR had published the proposed rules through S.R.O. 1081(I)/2026 on 6 July; the 13 August notification is the operative final instrument and takes effect on 1 October 2026.

The rules do not apply at land customs stations or airports. They also exclude goods imported under Chapter 99, goods in transit or international transshipment, personal baggage, less-than-container-load export cargo and bulk cargo.

For covered cargo, the customs computerized system will determine the applicable penalty and issue an electronic notice. A trader may accept and pay it through the WeBOC payment module or contest it. The relevant Collector or authorized officer must normally decide a contested notice within five working days, with one possible five-working-day extension recorded by the Chief Collector. An aggrieved person may appeal to the relevant Chief Collector within fifteen days, and the rules set a five-working-day target for that decision.

New daily penalties start on 1 October

S.R.O. 1346(I)/2026, also dated 13 August, supersedes S.R.O. 1387(I)/2025 and sets the penalty amounts that work with the new rules. Each category is capped at PKR 1 million per case:

If a goods declaration for home consumption, warehousing or transshipment is not filed within twenty days of arrival, the penalty is PKR 25,000 for each of the next five days and PKR 50,000 for each later day.
If a declaration was filed before the vessel berthed but the goods are not removed within five days after assessment is completed and the vessel has berthed, the penalty is PKR 15,000 for each of the next five days and PKR 20,000 for each later day.
If a declaration was filed after berthing but the goods are not removed within five days after clearance, the penalty is PKR 10,000 for each of the next five days and PKR 20,000 for each later day.
If export goods are not loaded onto the conveyance within fifteen days of entering the port, the penalty is PKR 5,000 for each of the next five days and PKR 15,000 for each later day.

The notification says these penalties remain subject to adjudication or voluntary deposit under the prescribed rules. They are not effective before 1 October 2026.

Pakistan-Uzbekistan customs concessions have expanded

S.R.O. 1349(I)/2026, dated 13 August, amends S.R.O. 329(I)/2023 under the Pakistan-Uzbekistan preferential trade arrangement. It adds serial numbers 32 to 90, with product-specific partial or full exemptions from customs duty, additional customs duty and regulatory duty.

The added tariff lines cover selected vegetables and fruits, medicinal preparations, food inputs, textiles, copper products, vacuum-cleaner components and telecommunications parts. The percentage of relief varies by tariff line and by duty type, so the notification should be checked against the exact HS code rather than treated as a blanket duty exemption. The amendment took effect on 14 August 2026.

Qualifying steel units receive temporary section 8B treatment

S.R.O. 1343(I)/2026, dated 12 August, adds a new entry to Table 1 of S.R.O. 1190(I)/2019. It temporarily excludes steel melters, re-rollers and composite units paying sales tax under the relevant provisos to section 6(2) and the notification issued under them from the section 8B restriction that normally caps input-tax adjustment at ninety per cent of output tax.

The relief runs only until 30 September 2026 and applies only to the class of steel unit described in the notification. It is not a general sales-tax rate reduction for the steel sector.

FBR revised last week's confectionery limits

Sales Tax General Order No. 17 of 2026, dated 12 August, amends STGO 15, which was covered in the previous weekly update. Where an individual chocolate, candy, toffee or similar product has too little printable space, the retail price and sales-tax amount may now be printed or embossed on a package containing no more than 250 pieces instead of 100.

The revised condition allows a maximum retail price of PKR 10 per piece instead of PKR 5, and adds a maximum weight of 10 grams per piece. The wider option remains conditional on compliance with the Sales Tax Act and STGO 08 of 2026; it does not remove the printing requirement generally.

Seven more steel companies entered the corporatization table

Sales Tax General Order No. 18 of 2026, dated 12 August, adds entries 9 through 15 to the voluntary-corporatization table established under STGO 10 and supplemented by STGO 13. The seven newly incorporated entities are Zahid Steel Industries, A.F Steel Industries, Nawab Steel, SGI Steel, Ishtiaq Steel Industry, Batala Iron Industries and AFCO Steel.

The order records the old and new tax identifiers, registered and manufacturing addresses and industrial utility connections. It is an entity-list update after the prescribed procedures were completed, not a new tax rate.

What affected businesses should check now

Port users and customs agents: map cargo workflows to the new declaration, removal and loading deadlines before 1 October, and establish a process for electronic notices, payment, contest and appeal.
Importers using Pakistan-Uzbekistan preferences: match the exact HS code and the separate customs, additional-customs and regulatory-duty columns before claiming relief.
Steel melters, re-rollers and composite units: confirm that the section 6(2) description applies and plan for the section 8B treatment to end after 30 September unless FBR issues a later measure.
Confectionery manufacturers and importers: update packaging controls to the 250-piece, PKR 10 and 10-gram limits while retaining all other printing requirements.
Steel businesses using voluntary corporatization: verify the tax identifiers, addresses and utility connections recorded in STGO 18.

Official FBR sources

The bottom line

The cargo rules and penalties are final but begin on 1 October, giving port users a short preparation window. The Pakistan-Uzbekistan concessions are already in force, while the steel section 8B treatment is expressly temporary. The confectionery order revises last week's limits, so businesses should use STGO 17 rather than the superseded figures in STGO 15.

Disclaimer: This article summarizes official FBR documents reviewed on 17 August 2026. It is general information, not legal or tax advice for a particular taxpayer, shipment, tariff classification, product or transaction. Check the official Gazette, the current law and any later FBR amendment before acting.

FBR Weekly Tax Update: Cargo Penalties, Trade Concessions and Steel Relief