KUALA LUMPUR, July 30 — No decision has been taken yet by the government on the Approved Permit (AP) import system, Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry, Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir said today.
“The time is not due yet for us to state the government’s stand on the matter,” he told reporters after launching the EZ Travel Gold MasterCard credit card here today.
“The minister (Datuk Mustapa Mohamed) did say that a decision will be made in September and an announcement will be made by the minister or the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Najib Razak).
“Certainly the recommendation put forth by MITI will be decided upon at the Cabinet level before an announcement is made,” he said.
Mukhriz said this when asked to comment on Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s statement that the AP system may not last long as it was no longer consistent with global regulations including that of the World Trade Organization (WTO)’s.
The Deputy Prime Minister last week said that the AP system was considered a barrier in international trade under the WTO and member countries including Malaysia should end AP to ensure a liberal and open trading system.
“A more liberal and open system will be of advantage to export oriented countries like Malaysia to derive benefits from the open market,” he had said.
Muhyiddin said the government, through MITI had carried out an audit of all the companies issued with APs including those holding the Open APs.
The audit was carried out to see the companies’ financial capacities and management as well as their adherence to the set guidelines.
“I have been informed that some companies with the Open APs were still not following the guidelines that had been set.
“We view this contravention seriously as it can jeopardise the government’s efforts to ensure continued participation of Bumiputeras in the automotive industry especially in the distribution of cars,” he had said. – Bernama
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