Guides · Temporary import
The goods come in without duty on the promise they go back out, and something has to stand behind that promise.
Shafiq Traders · Updated 14 September 2026
Temporary import lets goods enter Pakistan without paying customs duty and sales tax, on the condition that they leave again within a set period. Pakistan has three separate ways to do this. An indemnity bond or bank guarantee under paragraph 13 of the Import Policy Order 2022 covers exhibition materials, machinery brought in for demonstration or trial, and plant and equipment imported by construction, oil and gas, and mining contractors. An ATA Carnet, issued and guaranteed in Pakistan by ICC Pakistan, replaces that bond with a single international document accepted at customs in every country on the carnet's list. And a machine already owned in Pakistan that goes abroad for repair comes back duty-free under its own provision, separate from both. Whichever route applies, the goods are only clear of duty until the re-export deadline; after that, the security is what customs collects.
Who actually needs this
An exhibition organiser bringing in display machinery for a trade fair that runs two weeks. A machinery supplier sending a demo unit or a test rig so a buyer can run it before signing. A contractor bringing in plant for the length of a project, not for keeps. A firm that already owns a machine here and has to send it abroad for a repair the local workshops cannot do. All four are asking the same question: how do we get this in and out without paying full duty on something that was never going to stay.
None of them are importing in the ordinary sense, and the Customs Act treats them differently for exactly that reason. Section 21 lets the Board authorise delivery of goods without payment of duty where they are imported only temporarily with a view to subsequent exportation. That is the statutory root of everything on this page. What changes between one shipment and the next is which mechanism sits under that root, and what has to be lodged to use it.
Three routes, not one
The Import Policy Order 2022 sets out, in one paragraph, the categories that qualify for temporary import-cum-export against an indemnity bond or bank guarantee: construction, oil and gas, and mining companies and their contractors bringing in plant and machinery for a project; exhibition materials for fairs officially organised by the government, FPCCI or a chamber of commerce; and goods imported purely for demonstration, display, trial or testing for a limited period. A repair house bringing in engineering goods to work on and send back out sits in the same paragraph. In every one of these, the security is sized to the duty and taxes the goods would otherwise attract, and it is released only once the re-export is shown.
An ATA Carnet does the same job differently. Instead of a bond lodged with a Pakistani collector, the carnet is a single booklet, guaranteed by a chain of chambers of commerce across the countries it is used in, that customs at each border accepts as security in place of a cash or bank deposit. ICC Pakistan is the country's national guaranteeing and issuing organisation for the carnet, under the Istanbul Convention on temporary admission that Pakistan joined in 2004. A carnet is worth arranging when the same machine is going to more than one country, or when the buyer would rather deal with one document than a Pakistani bond application. It is not something Shafiq Traders issues; we file the customs end of it, the carnet itself comes from ICC Pakistan.
The third route is narrower and runs the other way. A machine already in Pakistan, sent abroad for repair or refurbishment and brought back unaltered, is re-imported duty-free under its own provision in the Customs Act, separate from the Import Policy Order categories. That is the one for a firm whose machine breaks down and has to go back to the manufacturer's workshop overseas.
Which route fits which shipment
| Route | Who it is for | What stands behind it |
|---|---|---|
| Indemnity bond or bank guarantee | Exhibition materials, demo and trial machinery, contractors' plant for a project term | Security sized to the duty and taxes, lodged with the Collector, released on proof of re-export |
| ATA Carnet | Machinery or equipment going to more than one country, or where the buyer wants a single document | A guarantee chain running through ICC Pakistan and the national body in each country on the carnet |
| Repair-and-return | A machine already owned in Pakistan, sent abroad for repair and coming back unaltered | No bond; duty-free re-entry is conditional on no alteration, addition or refurbishment having occurred |
How a bonded temporary import actually moves
The paperwork at the end matters as much as the paperwork at the start. A bond that is never formally discharged is a bond that can still be called on.
The declaration states the intent up front
The goods declaration has to say, at the point of import, that the goods are coming in temporarily for re-export. This is not something added later if plans change.
Security goes up before release
An indemnity bond or bank guarantee, sized to the duty and taxes the goods would otherwise attract, is lodged with the Collector before the goods are released.
The goods do their job inside the period
The exhibition runs, the demo happens, the contract term plays out. The clock is running the whole time, whatever else is happening with the shipment.
Re-export has to be filed, not assumed
A shipping bill or export goods declaration is filed for the same goods, and the security is discharged against proof they actually left, not against the fact that the project ended.
A missed deadline calls the bond, not the goods
If the goods are not re-exported in time, the security is what customs collects first. The goods themselves stay liable to a penalty and confiscation on top of that.
What a missed re-export actually costs
This is not a duty rate. It is the penalty the Customs Act sets for goods that were allowed in temporarily and did not go back out.
- Penalty for failing to re-export goods allowed temporary admissionUp to 5 times the duty chargeableon on the goods that were not re-exported, in addition to confiscation · Customs Act, 1969, section 156(1), table entry 11
- Surcharge where the Board has deferred duty collectionKIBOR plus 3% per annumon on the deferred amount, from the date and in the manner the Board prescribes · Customs Act, 1969, section 21A(2)
Checked 14 September 2026 against Federal Board of Revenue — Customs Act, 1969 (as amended to 30 June 2024), sections 21, 21A and 156. Rates move at the budget and by SRO in between, so confirm the current figure with us before you price a consignment on it.
Where this comes up most
Heavy machinery is the speciality this page is really written for: a demo unit flown in for a buyer to run, a contractor's plant landed for a project's length, a rig going abroad and coming back once it is fixed.
ATEE & Company · Khurshid Engineering · Cool Corporation · MEC Corporation · Mepcon Engineering
A bond or a carnet does not make the deadline soft. It gets the goods in without paying duty up front, and that is all it does. If the re-export slips past the period, the bank guarantee gets called or the carnet claim gets made against the guaranteeing chain, and the goods can still be confiscated on top of that. We would rather set the re-export date against the real project timeline before the declaration goes in than watch a client assume the deadline moves if the exhibition runs long or the contract gets extended.
Questions
What importers ask us about temporary import and re-export
Contact
Tell us what is coming.
Give us the product, the port and roughly when the vessel is due, and we will tell you what the clearance involves and what it will cost.