To facilitate foreigninvestment in the country,a smooth process is laidout to facilitateinvestment in the country,says Finance MinisterSenator Ishaq Dar

| see PaGe 2 |

Owners of the vehiclesthrough new facility wouldreceive the details of tokentax and other dues of theirvehicles through SMS, saysMian Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman.

| see PaGe 2 |

Govt assisting taxpayers

In a letter to ChairmanFBR; Haroon Agar hasdrawn his immediateattention towardsnecessary upgrading of thesoftware of GST e-filing.

| see PaGe 3 |

e-Iling of Gst returns

Govt facilitating fdi: dar

TAXPAYER EDUCATION ONE OFFBR’S CORE FUNCTIONS

MS. RIFFAT SHAHEEN, MEMBER FATEthe taxpayer should directly approach the facilitation wing so that he/she can get relief on the spot.

the taxpayer can approach the wing through web and phone

Member Facilitation and Taxpayer Educa-tion (FATE) in the FBR Headquarters, Ms.Riffat Shaheen Qazi, said that we are plan-ning to start detailed workshops and aware-ness raising programmes for university stu-dents regarding income and other tax lawsand amendments made in these laws.

Apart from large scale conferences beingconducted in different chambers of com-merce and FBR’s other organs, a specialistwill also be a part of these conferences tohelp resolve the issues regarding tax policy,customs, incomeand sales tax and federal ex-cise duty (FED).In an exclusive interview with Customs

Today, Ms. Riffat Shaheen who is officialspokesperson of FBR said thatwe provide fa-cilitation at different levels including indi-

vidual taxpayers, tax bars, chambers, clearing& forwarding agents andwithholding agents.Themajor role of the department also in-

cludes the interactionwith all departments ofFBR which resolves their queries and prob-lemsmainly throughmails, helpline andweb.Its online system has been upgraded and

the department dealswith the grievances un-der Section 7 of FBRAct. The complainant or

ISLAMABADfaiZa israrwww.customstoday.com

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oto

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02 NATIONAL www.customstoday.comAuGuST 27 - SEPTEMBER 02, 2013

customs more vigilant to stop Jight of foreign currencyKARACHI: After imposition of ban on import of gold by the government, the Customs officials and otheragencies have become more active to keep strict vigilance on illegal import of gold and foreign currencyfrom airports and other border check posts, in the backlash of dramatic fall of Pak rupee against dollar inthe localmoneymarket. It is pertinent tomentionhere that the governmenthas taken such steps after sharpfall of the local currency during the past few days.

The establishment of “ChinaFocus Cell” at Trade Devel-opment Authority of Pak-

istan (TDAP) dedicated to enhanc-ing trade relations between Chinaand Pakistan seems a strategicchange of external trade focusfrom West to East.It is important to note that the

Prime Minister of Pakistan’s re-cent visit to China has given anew impetus to Pak-China Eco-nomic Cooperation which willusher in a new era of bilateraltrade between two brotherlycountries. The visit culminated inthe signing of MoUs between Is-lamabad and Beijing which willreinvigorate trade relationshipbetween both the countries.Over the years, China has be-

come key trading partner of Pak-istan, resulting in increase in ex-port to China which reached US$2,620 million in the year 2012from US$ 436 million in the year2005. This increase is predomi-nantly attributed to Pakistan’s en-gagement in Free Trade Agree-ment (FTA) with China that cameinto effect in July 2007 whose sec-ond phase has started this year.Pakistan’s imports from Chinastood at US$ 6,687 million in theyear 2012 indicating hefty tradegap which needs to be tilted in fa-vor of Pakistan through proactiveparticipation of all stakeholders.The Chinese market is attractivefor a number of Pakistani prod-ucts especially textile and textileproducts, leather and leather gar-ments, fresh fruits, seafood, cut-lery, cement, ores, marble andhandicrafts.Development of Kashgar-

Gwadar Economic Corridor will beextremely helpful in bridging gapbetween Gwadar, Baltistan &North West Region of China bybringing tremendous trade oppor-tunities in the region. TDAP’snewly established China Focus Cellis headed by Director General(Marketing Division Asia) andstaffed by a dedicated team of pro-fessionals, who will highlight tradeopportunities for Pakistan inChina and act as a catalyst inbringing about desired results incoordination with all relevantquarters.Trade Development Authority

of Pakistan (TDAP) envisagesoutstanding trade opportunitiesafter the epoch-making visit andto capitalize on trade prospects, ithas established a “China FocusCell” at TDAP’s Headquarters,Karachi on the directives of theSecretary TDAP.�

china focus cellestablished at tdaPto enhance trade tiesKARACHIcustoms todaY rePortwww.customstoday.com

Finance Minister SenatorIshaq Dar has said thatPakistan Muslim

League Nawaz (PML-N) gov-ernment is committed to facili-tate foreign investment in thecountry and a smooth processis laid out to facilitate invest-ment in the country.He said this while talking to

ITO, Yasushi Managing DirectorYamaha Motors Pakistan. Dur-ing themeeting Chairman Boardof Investment (BoI) ZubairOmar, Chairman FBR Tariq Ba-jwa and senior officials of theMinistry of Finance were alsopresent.During his meeting with the

Finance Minister ITO, Yashushiinformed him that he has beenrunning frompillar to post for thelast four years to install a YamahaMotorcycle Plant in Pakistan. Itwas only recently when the pres-ent government assumed powerthat the process has been accel-erated, he added.Regretting the delay caused in

the acceleration of plant SenatorIshaq Dar said that the govern-

ment of Prime Minister NawazSharif supports and welcomesForeignDirect Investment (FDI).The seriousness of the govern-

ment can be gauged from the factthat it wants BoI to function as aone-windowoperation for foreigninvestors and has appointed asenior party colleague as its chair-man. The Finance Minister as-sured the Managing DirectorYamaha that the case of YamahaMotors would be taken up in thenext meeting of Economic Coor-dination Committee, which willmeet shortly and resolve all is-sues so that the plant can be in-

stalled in the countrywithout fur-ther delay.Meanwhile, Finance Minister

Senator Mohammad Ishaq Darhas constituted a sub-committeewith Tariq Fatimi, Special Assis-tant to the Prime Minister as itsConvener and Secretaries Estab-lishment andFinance as itsmem-bers to review the performanceof different officers posted inPak-istan’s missions abroad.This decisionwas takenduring

themeeting held under the chair-manship of Senator MohammadIshaq Dar, which met at the Fi-nanceMinister’s office. Themeet-ingwas attended byFederalMin-ister for Planning andDevelopment, Ahsan Iqbal,KhurramDastagir, Federal Min-ister for Privatisation, Special As-sistant to Prime Minister TariqFatimi, senior officials of CabinetAffairs Division, Defence, Infor-mation Broadcasting and Her-itage, Overseas Pakistanis, Com-merce and other senior officials.The sub-committee has been

directed to submit its reportwithin three weeks. The CabinetDivision shall function as the sec-retariat of sub-committee.Itmay be recalled that the PM

had issued a directive to reviewthe performance of Pakistan’sMissions abroad.�

Govt committed to facilitateforeign investment: ishaq darISLAMABADcustoms todaY rePortwww.customstoday.com

The seriousness of thegovernment can begauged from the fact thatit wants BoI to function asa one-window operationfor foreign investors

Provincial Minister for Fi-nance and Excise & TaxationMian Mujtaba Shuja-ur-

Rehman said that the Punjab gov-ernment is providingmodern facil-ities to citizens for depositing tax.While inaugurating online re-

covery of token tax of vehicles andSMS service at the office of ExciseDepartment, he said that owners ofthe vehicles through new facilitywould receive the details of tokentax and other dues of their vehiclesthrough SMS, adding that whenany person would send SMS of hisvehicle’s registration number on8070, he would receive automati-cally SMS of the deposited amountwith all details of deposited dues.Secretary Excise Shahid Ashraf

Tarar, Chairman PITB Dr. UmerSaif, Director Excise Masood ul

Haq, AkramGondal and other offi-cers were present on the occasion.Mian Mujtaba Shuja-ur-

Rehman informed that the ExciseDepartment is also launching An-droid-based Application with thecollaboration of Punjab Informa-tion Technology Board which willbe made functional from the firstweek of September under whichAndroid-based mobile phoneswould be provided to the Excise In-spectors who will collect theamount from the owners of the ve-hicles on the spot.He said that these Inspectors

would also be provided smallhandy printers to give receipt of re-ceived amount, carrying the nameof the Inspector along with com-plete details of the amount.This amount will be updated in

the database simultaneously due towhich the motor owners will besaved from visiting offices of thedepartment. �

Punjab govt providing modernfacilities for depositing tax: MujtabaLAHOREcustoms todaY rePortwww.customstoday.com

Punjab govt as pervision of the CM

Punjab is providingmodern facilities to

citizens fordepositing tax. Aftercomputerization of

all branches and webbased tax calculator,now veriRcation ofamounts deposited

through SMS is beingstarted, says

mujtabashuja-ur-rehman

fBr committee to redress problems of importers, clearing agentsFBR has decided to form a committee in collaborationwith the CustomsDepartment and other stakehold-ers including clearing agents and industrialists in order to facilitate the importers and clearing and for-warding agents and to take steps to curb the corruption in the department. Sources in the CustomsDepartment toldCustomsToday that a 15-membercommittee isheadedby theProjectDirector, (PD)WeBoCcomprising other officials of the Customs Agents Association, KCCI and FPCCI .

Federal Board of Rev-enue (FBR) has col-lected Rs 130 billion

in first month (July2013) of the cur-rent fiscal yearagainst a collectionof Rs 106 billion inthe samemonth of thelast financial year.According to provisional

revenue collection figure ofFBR, the Board fetched Rs130 billion against thedesired target of Rs 140billion, registering ashortfall of Rs 10 billionso far. Till finalising ofrevenue figures in next fewdays, FBR expects that fewbillions more will be pouredinto national kitty and the rev-enue shortfall will be min-imised.

Under the IMF’s bailoutpackage of $5.3 billion, it is im-portant for Pakistan that rev-

enue mobilisation effortsof FBR did not meetwith failure as in suchscenario the upcom-ing Fund programmewill be derailed inmonths ahead.“The IMF’s execu-tive board is going toconsider approvalof Pakistan’s pro-gramme underExtended FundFacility (EFF) byearly Septemberand Fund’s review

mission will visit Is-lamabad by late Octo-

ber or early November toanalyse performance

achieved in first quarter (July-Sept) and in case of revenueshortfall, Pakistani authoritieswill be forced to take additionalrevenue measures to protectfiscal framework,” said the of-ficial. �

FBR collects Rs130b revenue in JulyISLAMABADcustoms todaY rePortwww.customstoday.com

The Model Customs collectorate(MCC) Preventive is on verge ofcollapse, as it needs induction of

young blood and contemporary equip-ment on war footing basis in order toenhance its performance.An official in MCC Preventive told

Customs Today that the collectorateneeds fresh recruitment and latestequipment. “Absence of specialisedpreventive officials, manpower andproper leadership are among the burn-ing issues, which are affecting the per-formance of MCC Preventive”, headded.He further informed that the infor-

mation sharing system of the collec-torate was not working properly due tothe abolishment of “secret fund”,which was introduced to facilitate the‘informers’.“The collectorate with the assistance

of the Maritime Forces/Agencies areconducting raids in sea”, he informed.The official further informed that

the information sharing system wasalso in pathetic state, as no reward forinformers had been issued from thecollectorate, adding that the preven-

tive officers and informers had propercoordination mechanism and theyworked with effective strategy.He said that the Customs top brass

was eyeing on soft targets as far as rev-enue generation was concerned, ne-glecting the Enforcement Departmentin this connection.He urged the government and Fi-

nance Ministry to take serious steps torevamp the MCC Preventive in effec-tive way. It is pertinent to mentionhere that no new recruitment has beenmade in MCC Preventive since 1998.�

mcc Preventive:No recruitment in collectorate since 1998

KARACHIcustoms todaY rePortwww.customstoday.com

fBr

Thetrade andi n d u s t r ywilling to

file their GST re-turns through dig-ital system havecomplained aboutcomplications infiling the returnselectronically and appealed to FBR tolook into the system and upgrade it onimmediate basis in order to avoid in-convenience caused to the registeredtaxpayers who file their returns elec-tronically as per new changes and en-hanced GST rate of 17 percent.In a letter to theChairmanFBR;Ha-

roon Agar President KCCI has drawnhis immediate attention towards nec-essary upgrading of the software ofGSTe-filing and stated that several mem-bers have approached the KCCI in-forming that they were unable to filetheir GST returns electronically.�

FBR urged to upgradesoftware for e-Rling ofGST returnsKARACHIcustoms todaY rePortwww.customstoday.com

03NATIONALwww.customstoday.comAuGuST 27 - SEPTEMBER 02, 2013

Information sharingsystem of the collectoratewas not working properlydue to the abolishment of

“secret fund”

The collectorate is on verge of collapse; needs young blood, latest equipment

NATIONAL04

us senators threaten to hold back afghan aid over customs InesTwo senators who wield considerable influence over U.S. foreign aid threatened to withhold funding forAfghanistan if the government inKabul doesn’t cease attempting to collect customs fines forU.S.militarycargobeing shippedout of the country aspart of the troopdrawdown.Sen.Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), calledthe Afghan government’s request that the U.S.military pay $70million in customs fines as illegitimate.

The State Bank of Pakistanreleased a comprehensive reporton the current economic

situation in Pakistan and with regardto the working and efficiency of FBR.It said as the economy entered the2nd half of Rscal year, the keychallenges to macroeconomicmanagement were emanated fromRscal side and also the external sector.After the surplus during the 1st half ofFY13, the current account position isdeteriorated to deRcit in Q3FY13,increasing pressure on country’sforeign reserves. On the domesticfront, growth in FBR tax revenueremained sluggish, while expenditureon power subsidies and debt servicingincreased sharply.Finally, the government had to resortincreasingly to borrowing from SBP toRnance its Rscal deRcit. On a positivenote however inSation fellsigniRcantly in Q3FY13, and largescale manufacturing showed somesign of recovery. �

Pak rupee plunged to all-time low against dol-lar in open market

recently which is feared tohave adverse impact on theeconomy especially invest-ment inflows and home re-mittances if the gap be-tween interbank and openmarket rate is not controlledimmediately.Expressing deep concern

over recurring devaluation ofthe Pak rupee against the dollar,KCCI President Haroon Agarhas termed it detrimental forthe economy.The enhancement in the ru-

pee dollar parity is due to inef-ficiency of policymakers. Therupee has plunged to life-timelow position and will not attractthe investors. Due to huge dif-ference in the interbank ex-change rates, the overseas Pak-istanis would opt to otherchannels to send their remit-tances to Pakistan.Haroon Agar said that our

country cannot afford to haveone of the worst-performing

currencies in Asia which willcause huge deficits and lack ofcapital inflows, depletion of re-serves, flight of capital, and fail-ure to push through economicreforms. It appears that policy-makers lack a consistent plan tostabilise the currency which willcompel business community tostart looking at opportunities inother countries.Though the weaker rupee

may benefit to exporters by giv-ing them more rupees per dol-

lar, but this benefit is neu-tralised by the costly importedinputs of manufacturing sectorincluding textiles thus erodingthe financial advantage of aweaker rupee.Our economy is in slump as

all sectors of economy are show-ing negative growth and fur-ther fall in value of rupeewill cause more contrac-tion in economic activityleading to reduced taxrevenue for governmentand huge foreign debt.Haroon said that in the

current scenario, depreciationof the rupee at its current pacewon’t push up exports, ratherwill certainly inflate import billand inflation that, over theyears, became closely linked tothe exchange rate because ofPakistan’s ever higher relianceon imports, particularly of en-ergy inputs.Faster the depreciation of the

rupee, higher will be inflationand lower the competitivenessof Pakistan’s business and in-dustry.Therefore, government

should get quickly into actionto control this damaging trendto bring stabilisation in ex-change rate to protect nationaleconomy from further injury.�

Model Customs Lahoreanti-smuggling depart-menthas seized smuggled

goods and articlesworthRs44mil-lion during themonth of July.According to details, the anti-

smugglingdepartment seized ladiesclothworthRs0.44million, 617.28kgs parachute fabric worth Rs 0.35million, A/S cloth 410kgsworthRs0.29 million, diesel generator (3Nos) 39KVAworthRs 1.20million,diesel generator 275.300 KVAworth Rs 2.00 million and appre-hendedmiscellaneous goodsworthRs 1.30million.Similarly, the department held

oneHondaCivic car IDS-686worthRs 1.0 million, Honda Accord carLEE-08-7217, Toyota Corolla carIDF-8075 worth Rs 0.80 million,ToyotaCrowncarR-2790worthRs0.30 million, DVD & cloth worthRs 1.40million, ladies suiting cloth300 rollsworthRs0.75million andmiscellaneous goods and articlesworth Rs.0.75million.The anti-smuggling squad also

seized diesel generator 500 KVAworth Rs 2.00 million, Gerry cloth6048 kgs worth Rs 3.00 million,Indian cloth 10000 metres worthRs 1.0million, drymilkpowder250bags, diesel generators 1200 KVAand 20KVAworth Rs 9.16million,Mazda truckLES-13-6071worthRs0.12 million and diesel generator75KVAworth Rs 0.70million.The department also detained

A/S cloth2460yardsworthRs0.25million, HRC coil 35425 kgs worthRs 3.04million, steel coil 12 tonnesworthRs 1.20million, polyester lin-

ing cloth 135000 yards worth Rs0.70 million, Toyota Corolla carLXE-786 worth Rs 0.80 millionand MS pipe 2543 kgs worth Rs3.44million.The department confiscated

body of a Mazda truck/LES-09-1916 worth Rs 0.12, plastic dana100bagsworthRs0.50million, old& used generators worth Rs 1.80,IndianA/S cloth 9300 yardsworthRs 0.58 million, diesel generator100KVAworthRs 1.00million andshampoo, creams and spray 12156packs worth Rs 1.28million.

An insider said that the seizedgoods and articles were originatedin the US, India, Iran and Russiaand were attempted to smuggle inPakistani markets from Peshawarand Quetta.Earlier, during the month of

June 2013, the department confis-cated smuggled vehicles and con-traband goodsworthRs 29.48mil-lion in49 cases. The total duty taxesevasion of these goodswasRs 15.95million.When comparedwith themonth

of June 2013, seizures in July weremore thandouble as the anti-smug-gling department had seized smug-gled vehicles and contrabandworthRs 8.22million in 18 cases in June.Sources said that the risingnum-

ber of seizures happened due tostrict implementation of instruc-tions given by Collector CustomsJunaid Akram as the collector hadordered the officials concerned tofully utilise all available resources toovercome themenaceof smuggling.Sources added that the depart-

ment was quite aware of the factthat domestic industry was suffer-ing fromhefty losses due to the ris-ing trend of smuggling.�

rupee at all-time low:

Illegal channels may attract home remittancesKARACHIcustoms todaY rePortwww.customstoday.com

Overseas Pakistanis remitted anamount of $1,404.39 million in July2013 of the current Rscal year (FY13-

14), showing an impressive growth of 16.57percent or $199.68 million as comparedwith $1,204.71 million received during thesame month of the last Rscal year (FY12-13). Remittances received from most of thecountries showed growth. The inSow ofremittances during July 2013 from SaudiArabia, uAE, uSA, uK, GCC countries(including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar andOman) and Eu countries amounted to$410.73 million, $252.41 million, $233.06million, $221.93 million, $161.44 millionand $38.59 million respectively ascompared with the inSow of $349.66million, $240.54 million, $215.30 million,$148.49 million, $140.36 million and$30.83 million respectively in July 2012.Remittances received from Norway,Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Japan andother countries during the last monthamounted to $86.23 million as against$79.53million received in the same monthof the last Rscal year (FY12-13). It may berecalled that in order to provide anownership structure in Pakistan forremittance facilitation, the government ofPakistan through SBP, Ministry of OverseasPakistanis and Ministry of Finance hadlaunched a joint initiative called PakistanRemittance Initiative (PRI) in April 2009. �

Customs seizes smuggled goods worth Rs 44m in JulyLAHOREcustoms todaY rePortwww.customstoday.com

Growth in FBR taxrevenue remainssluggish: SBP reportISLAMABADcustoms todaY rePortwww.customstoday.com

Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) hasRnalised various officers ofPakistan Customs Services (PCS)

for 35th and 36th Common TrainingProgramme (CTP) of inter se seniority.The officers selected for 35th CTP areMuhammad Ali, Asad Khan, BeenishIftikhar,Tayyaba Bukhari, Asma Bashir,Khaldun ul Haq, Muhammad MoazzamRaza, Ali Waheed Khan, Zaheer AbbasAmanullah, Syed Babar Ali Shah, FazliShakoor, Asim Rehman, Mumtaz Ali,Muhammad Faisal, Zehra Tahir Naqvi,Shoukat Hayat, Shams ur RehmanWazir and Iqbal Ahmad Memon.Similarly, the officers Rnalised for 36thCTP are Falik Shair, Ammar Ahmad Mir,Nuasheen Riaz Khan, Yawar Nawaz,Muhammad Rizwan, Mehwish Shah,Mariam Mehdi Raja, Mahmood urRehman Khattak, Muhammad RehanAkram, Aneeqa Afzal, Palwasha Syed,Amina Naeem, Shah Faisal, AbdulMueed Omer Bin Zafar Chattha,Jahanzeb Abbasi and Sohaib AnwarHashmi. The officers are directed to Rleobjections, along with documentaryevidence to seniority list by September06, 2013 failing which it would bebelieved the officers had no objectionsand the inter se seniority list would beRnalised accordingly.�

Customs officers CTPsequence RnalisedLAHOREcustoms todaY rePortwww.customstoday.com

Overseas Pakistanisremit $1.4b in July

www.customstoday.comAuGuST 27 - SEPTEMBER 02, 2013

INTERVIEW 05

Pak resumes seafood exports to eu after 6-year banKARACHI: The export of seafood from Pakistan to European Union resumed after a ban of six years. Theclearance of the first export consignment of Pakistani seafood to the European Union after a lapse of sixyears is a positive sign for the export of shrimp and fish products from Pakistan, said Zubair AhmedMalik, President of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI).

Former Directorate General ofTraining & Research (Cus-toms) Lahore is relatively

speaking an unglamorous wing of theCustoms Department but those whoknow about the working of this or-ganization say that the DOTCustomsis the heart and soul of the whole De-partment and provides it with thekind of trainedmanpower which pro-duces results.This is the directorate which pro-

vides training to Customs officerswhoultimately act as the guardian of theeconomic borders of Pakistan. FormerDirectorate General of Training&Re-search Customs administers threetraining centres at Islamabad, Lahoreand Karachi to impart training anddevelop training policy for personnelof Customs Department.In an exclusive interviewwith Cus-

toms Today, Mehboob Saqib Khan,former Director General answeredmany questions and traced the historyof the Directorate:“In 1973 through Administrative

Reforms the Federal Services Acad-emy became Civil Services Academyand Directorate of Inspection andTraining was established at Karachiand an independent Directorate ofTraining was established in 1981 atKarachi and in 2000 at Lahore. TheDirectorate was established at Islam-abad in 1997. After transfer of the Postof Director General from Islamabadto Karachi in 2005 this Directorate isworking as Regional Directorate ofTraining & Research (Customs)”.What are themajor functions ofDirectorate of Training & Re-search (Customs)?ThisDirectorate is providing train-

ing to the officers of the Customs De-partmentwho areworking in differentdirectorates, including Directorate ofIntelligence and Investigation (FBR),Lahore, Directorate of Internal Audit(Customs), Lahore,Directorate of PostClearance Audit, Lahore, Model Cus-tomsCollectorate (Appraisement), La-hore, Model Customs Collectorate(Preventive), Lahore, Model CustomsCollectorate, Multan, Model CustomsCollectorate, Faisalabad, and ModelCustoms Collectorate, Sialkot. Majorfunctions of the Directorate include

induction andpost promotion trainingto all tiers, refresher courses for allgrades, conducting test of applicantsfor getting New Customs Agent Li-censes, 6-Day Mandatory Course forall customs agents, Computer BasedTraining (CBT) in collaboration withUNODC, information technologycourses and internationalcustoms/taxation courses.What is thebasicgoalof the train-ing provided by the Directorate?Well, the purpose of theDirectorate

is to achieve excellence in the field oftaxation and economic managementin South Asia and evolve into a pre-mier regional organization, whichwillproduce future economic managersand leaders. The Directorate is meantto develop a Customs Academy withinternational links and affiliations, toserve the Customs training needs ofthe region as a centre of excellence inCustoms Administration.Similarly, the Directorate is sup-

posed to develop the Academy withstate-of-the-art technologies, as a fu-ture-driven training centre having itsownCampus, Faculty as well as Char-ter to award degrees and establishtraining units in the Customs Collec-torates/Regional Tax Offices to pro-vide on-the-site training, besides serv-ing as a forum for professionaldevelopment and resource centre fortax collectors as well as taxpayers.What innovations have you in-troduced after taking charge ofthe Directorate?It gives me immense pleasure to

launch the website of the ex-Direc-torate General of Training and Re-search of Pakistan Customs. It is ahumble effort but the first step to-wards introducing this office to thegeneral public and business commu-nity in particular. I hope this showsthe capabilities of this office. In thepast, we have held training courses forofficers fromBrunei andPalestine butunfortunately, due to the socio-politi-cal situation,we are not currently con-ducting any courses for foreigners.It is my endeavour to ask the busi-

ness community and stakeholders aswell as officials of the Department tocome forth with suggestions and crit-

icism for the improvement of the Di-rectorate through this website.“It is my perception that we

should train officers who can proveto be an asset to the Department bysolving problems of the businesscommunity, who take decisions andare not hostile to the public. Insteadthey took the business communityand the clientele as their friends. Ifwe succeed in doing this, I will bethe happiest man on Earth.”In the end, I would like to thank

and mention all officers of the Direc-torate for their input, particularly Dr.Muhammad Afzal, Additional Direc-tor, Lahore,Mr. Agha Jawad,Director,Karachi, Ms. Zahra Haider, DeputyDirector, Lahore, Dr. RizwanBasharat, Deputy Director, Lahoreand Mr. Muhammad Asghar Khan,Additional Director, Islamabad.Whatmethodologydo youadoptto train the officials?Trainingmethodology at theDirec-

torate includes lectures, workshops,seminars, hands-on practice, experttalks, case studies, field trips and on-the-job and group activities consist-ing of discussions and presentations.What facilities do you extend tothe trainees at theDirectorate ofTraining and Research (Cus-toms), Lahore?The officials who come to get train-

ing at the Directorate are providedwith the air-conditioned interactiveclass-rooms, computer lab consistingof 25 computers, multimedia projec-tor, internet/e-mail server and a poolof well-qualified,multilingual and ex-perienced resource persons.How many trainees have youtrainedduring the last fewyears?I took over the charge of Direc-

torate during 2011.However, the totalnumber of participants trained since2007-2013 are 7620while the numberof courses, workshops, seminars is494. The courses enabled theCustomsofficials to understand the value ofprofessionalism, leadership, excel-lence, perseverance, commitment, in-novation and integrity.

(This Interview was conductedwhen Mehboob Saqib Khan was DGTraining & Research.) �

DOT producingtrained customs force:mehboobsaqibkhanThe mission of the Directorate is to achieve excellence in the Reld oftraining in Taxation and Fiscal Management. The organisation isproducing officers who are public friendly and committed towardssolving business problems.

Mehboob Saqib Khan holds aMasters degree inEconomics. He secured the

6th position in the CSS examinationand opted for Customs Services.Working as Chief TEPI and In-chargeInput-Output Co-efficientOrganization (IOCO), he saved Rs 17billion for Federal Board of Revenue(FBR) by rationalising rebatenotiRcations with the consent oftraders. He also architected Duty TaxRemission for Export (DTRE)scheme, replaced oldcommunication with optic Rberconnectivity in the Customs House,Karachi and establishedconnectivity throughout thecountry. He is also one of theprimary architects of current formatof the goods declaration. He mademajor contributions in making theCustoms Act compatible withrequirements of the World TradeOrganisation (WTO). As theCollector Valuation Khan reformedthe procedure and published threeguides for valuation of audit andgot reward for detection of evasionof duty and taxes. As the CollectorPreventive, he achieved targets andreceived rewards for detection of agold case. As the CollectorAppraisemnet, Karachi, he achievedthe highest collection ever till thattime. He introduced AutomatedCustoms Procedure (ACP) which isoperational to date. As DirectorIntelligence Lahore he obtained 70kanals of land from PunjabLiquidation Board for the FBR.He laid the foundation andcompleted new office of Directorateof Intelligence, Lahore. Similarly asCollector Faisalabad he tookpossession of 2 acres of prime landfrom the provincial government andpayment for the land had been made20 years ago. The government senthim in the Rrst batch for ExecutiveDevelopment Programme to Harvarduniversity, uSA. He also did a courseon Public-Private Partnership fromCorporation for EnterpriseDevelopment (CFED), uS.�

LAHOREm haYatwww.customstoday.com

—Ex

clusiv

ecus

tom

stod

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ProfiLe

In 1973 throughAdministrative Reforms theFederal Services Academy

became Civil ServicesAcademy and Directorate ofInspection and Training wasestablished at Karachi and

an independent Directorateof Training was established

in 1981 at Karachi and in2000 at Lahore. The

Directorate was establishedat Islamabad in 1997.

www.customstoday.comAuGuST 27 - SEPTEMBER 02, 2013

06 www.customstoday.comAuGuST 27 - SEPTEMBER 02, 2013EDITORIAL

Over the years much has been written andspoken against the SRO culture but it hascontinued to Sourish regardless. As

ordered by the government of the day andsometimes on its own, FBR keeps issuing SROsto cover speciRc cases and sectors. Anabbreviation for Statutory Regulatory Order, SROis simply an instrument of Rnancial governanceto regulate the import regime. Butknowledgeable quarters are of the opinion thatit is excessively used and, sometimes, withoutany justiRcation.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) wasinformed last year that the SRO culture hadcost the national exchequer about Rs650billion in the form of exemptions andconcessions granted to various parties.According to the latest economic survey, theamount lost through exemptions andconcessions totalled around Rs900 billion inthe last five years. It has been pointed out thatin most cases the SROs are company specificrather sector-specific, which violates theprinciple of justice and fair play. For instance,SRO 57(I)/2012 issued in January 2012 reducedthe turnover tax by 50 percent -- from 1percent to 0.5 percent -- for PakistanInternational Airlines, giving it an unfairadvantage of about Rs500 million over otherairlines.

Tax experts are of the opinion that there arehundreds of iniquitous and lop-sided SROswhich need to be reviewed for theirinconsistencies with previous tax laws andorders and for infringing the principle of faircompetition. According to one estimate, morethan 4,500 SROs have been issued over the lastfew decades, the bulk of them during theMusharraf era. These SROs relate to income tax,sales tax and FED. It has been noted that thenumber of SROs goes up during the militaryregimes which rule by Rat and authoritativeorders. But records show that hundreds of SROshave also been issued by FBR under electedgovernments.

Given the fast pace of economic changesaround the world and their impact oneconomies of developing countries, a resort toSROs sometimes becomes necessary to protectspeciRc sectors. But, having said this, theirindiscriminate use cannot be condoned,especially when they are designed to beneRt aparticular Rrm or group. To ensure that SROs areissued in a transparent manner and are notmisused, it is important that clear rules andregulations are made and objective criteria andstrict conditions are laid down governing theirapplication. As a further safeguard, a specialcommittee comprising representatives from theMinistries of Finance and Commerce should beformed to scrutinize each case in detail beforegiving its approval for the issuance of an SRO.The committee can also be tasked to undertakea comprehensive review of the existing corpus ofSROs to verify their legitimacy and need.

Founder & Chairman ZulIqar aliEditor nasim ahmed

editor@customstoday.com.pk

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+92-324-4404694www.customstoday.com

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thesrocuLtureeditoriaL

The top brass in CustomsDepartment includingChief Collectors, Collec-

tors, Additional Deputy Col-lectors and Deputy Collec-tors aredeterminednot onlyto achieve the revenue tar-gets in new fiscal year 2013-14, but to increase itwith thehelp of comprehensivestrategy.In this regard, transfers

and postings have also beendone at top level in CustomsHouse, Karachi following theappointment of new FBRChairman Tariq Bajwa.The officials in Customs De-

partment were of the view thatthe current transfers and post-ingswill play a significant role inincreasing the revenue genera-tionof the department. They fur-ther said that the division ofPaCCs Collectorate into twomore collectorates i.e. KICT-East

Wharf and KICT-West Wharfwill further increase therevenue and put the pos-itive impact on the de-partment, as more effi-cient and talentedofficials will get thechance to exhibit theirperformance.Additional Deputy Col-

lector-I Dr Fareed IqbalQureshi while sharing hisviews with Customs Todaysaid the department will en-hance its revenuegenerationduring current FY-2013-14.

"We can easily not onlyachieve the revenue targets, butalso increase it by utilising avail-able resources", he added. ChiefCollector (Enforcement)Muhammad Yahya said the de-partment has achieved its targetin previous Fiscal Year 2012-13andwill try to surpass the envis-

aged target this time around. It ispertinent to mention here thatPrime Minister Mian Muham-mad Nawaz Sharif has recentlyissueddirectives toFBRandCus-tomsDepartment in order to im-prove the efficiency of the de-partments. Subsequently, the topbrass in Customs House opentheir wings and formulated aneffective strategy in the light ofthe PM's directives.However; the Karachi Cus-

tomsAgentsAssociation (KCAA)has strongly condemned the di-vision of PaCCs Collectorate andtermed it an attempt to increasethe corruption by appointingmore Customs officials.President KCAA Saifullah

Khan while talking to CustomsToday said the authorities con-cerned in Customs Departmenthave not taken a wise decisionby splitting thePaCCsCollectoreinto two other collectorates.�

Customs officials yearning to achieve target

Member Customs striving to make the Deptt corruption free

07SPECIALREPORTwww.customstoday.comAuGuST 27 - SEPTEMBER 02, 2013

aggrieved party registers com-plaints with the concerned wingthrough proper channel by submit-ting all the requiredmaterial so thattheir problems can be resolved atthe earliest.She said, “We strive to promote

and mobilise the system by print-ing brochures as well as sendingmessages. We are proactive andresponsive and for this purpose weupdate our website regularly. Forthe convenience and facilitationwe work properly online alongwith GIZ (a German NGO), wherewe arrange workshops for inter-nal and external stakeholders onregular basis. In addition we willhave extensive awareness cam-paigns this year.”“One of the major issues we are

facing is lack of communication be-tween taxpayers and tax authori-ties. The middle men -- advisorsand consultants -- are creating hur-dles. There is a facilitation wing atevery RTO including commis-sioner for facilitation.The taxpayer should directly

approach the facilitation wing sothat he/she can get relief on thespot. The taxpayer can approachthe wing through web and phone,”she added.Talking about FBR’s deficit in

the first quarter’s revenue collec-tion, she said that first quartercannot give us the actual positionas second and third quarters pres-ent the real picture of revenue col-lections because these monthscan be called months of real re-turns. We do facilitate the tax-payer if a taxpayer wants to makeadvance payments.After assessing the last year’s tax,

he can be facilitated by installmentsbut this facility is only provided tothose taxpayerswhomake advancetax payments and then the remain-ing amount is collected in the fourthand final quarter. The fourth quar-ter is basically the assessment quar-ter by FBR itself.Answering to a query she

pointed out the key role of FATEwing which is one of the most im-portant departments of FBR since itorganises advertisement cam-paigns, and is responsible for newsand press releases for FBR.She said that unregistered busi-

nesses which do not pay sales taxshould go for registration as early aspossible.Replying a query, she said the

CREST and WeBOC systemslaunched by FBR are very effectiveand useful.But these systems sometimes de-

velop errorswhich are resolved im-mediately. In this regard FBR hasappointed a separate ITmember forefficient working and eliminationof errors inWeBOC and CREST. Inaddition to this FBR is nowmovingtowards ITMs integrated system,she concluded.�

Working style of some ofhigh profile officialsseemsmundane but in

fact, if they are replaced, even vastexperienced personnel cannot filltheir gap. Ms Riffat Shaheen Qazi,Member FATE, is also a soul onecannot see effects of fatigues on herface despite the fact that she has toaccomplish a lot of responsibilitiessimultaneously.Ms Riffat Shaheen Qazi, BS-21

officer, is the Member Facilitationand Taxpayer Education (FATE) inFBR Headquarters since April 17,2013 and is also designated officialspokesperson of FBR.Ms Riffat Qazi, a senior officer of

Income Tax Group from the 7thCommon, has previously served invarious key positions across thecountry. She was previously postedas Federal Secretary Capital Admin-istration andDevelopmentDivision,Government of Pakistan. She hasalsoworked as a part of reform teamin FBR as Chief (Tax Reforms) andalso as Chief Commissioner RTORawalpindi and CommissionerLarge Taxpayer Unit (LTU) Islam-abad. She had also introducedmod-ernmanagement/administrative re-covery techniques and introducedproactive mode of communicationInternal/External, creating linkagesfor facilitation of taxpayers. Sheholds MBA degree from John F.Kennedy University USA as well asMasters and M.Phil degrees in Eco-nomics fromUniversity of Peshawar.She accomplished extensive Sen-

ior ExecutiveManagement trainingcourses from the Harvard Univer-sity BostonUSA and from the RoyalInstitute of Public Administration(RIPA), London on Developing aModernHuman Resource function.She also holds certificate in ChangeManagement and DevelopingStrategic Change Leadership fromRausing Executive DevelopmentCentre, LUMS University Lahore.There is no doubt that Member

FATE has to shoulder a lot of re-sponsibilities including facing jour-nalist’s community which is con-sidered as the toughest task around.

However, she has had more thanenough experience to tackle allthese challenges.While talking tothis scribe before Customs Today’slaunching, she promised to provideall-out help in providing fresh in-formation regarding FBR and Cus-toms Department. She also appre-ciated the idea of launching aweekly on a specialized subject ofCustoms and running a websitewherein happenings of Customsand FBR officials would be updatedround the clock.The FATE wing of FBR is one of

the support wings created as a resultof tax administrative reform processalso known as (TARP). In the wakeof universal self assessment and in-troduction of new audit based In-come Tax Ordinance and Sales TaxLaw as well as speedy Customsclearance screened through auto-mated risks parameters, the impor-tance of tax payers’ facilitation andeducation has also emerged as ahallmark of newly reformed FBR.

following are the details of fatedepartment’s functioning:

• To ensure flow of information tothe stakeholders that is timely,relevant and of high quality.

• To keep close liaison with the elec-tronic and print media of thecountry for all the updates, newsand events.

• To receive the information andqueries from the taxpayers re-garding procedural and technicaldifficulties being faced by themin meeting the tax obligationsand to respond by renderingthem advice in removing suchdifficulties.

• To promote ‘cultural change’ inFBR as tax officials must adoptmore assisting and facilitatingattitude towards taxpayersrather than traditional con-frontational mode.

• To prepare and publish brochures,guides andmaterial related to alltaxes for the facilitation of gen-eral public at large.

• To simplify tax return forms andother forms for the facilitation oftax payers.

• To maintain a user-friendly web-site providing maximum infor-mation to stakeholders regard-ing tax laws, procedures, andfacilitation brochures and forms.

• To arrange and organise taxawareness seminars, employeeworkshops and question answersessions. �

from page 01

taxpayereducation oneof fBr’s corefunctions

One of the major issues we are facing is lack of communicationbetween taxpayers and tax authorities. The middle men -- advisors andconsultants -- are creating hurdles. There is a facilitation wing at everyRTO including commissioner for facilitation. The taxpayer shoulddirectly approach the facilitation wing so that he/she can get relief onthe spot, ms. riffat shaheen

MEMBER FATE ProfiLe

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08 NATIONAL www.customstoday.comAuGuST 27 - SEPTEMBER 02, 2013

nawaz approves Pak-china trade corridor planISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has principally approved the proposed alignment of Pak-istan-China Trade Corridor. The PM, however, directed for further evaluation of the proposal in termsof time and cost efficiency. Pakistan-China Economic Corridor, is the future of the country and it willconnect Pakistan with China, making Pakistan a hub of transit trade in the region.

The World Bank has offered $300million loan to Pakistan for imple-menting Revenue Mobilization

Programme for revamping administrationof Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) as wellas increasing revenues over the mediumterm.After unsuccessful implementation of

Tax Administration Reform Project(TARP-1) in Pakistan even after spendingmultimillion dollars in recent past from2005 to 2011, the WB has given $3 millionfor preparing detailed strategy to bestowanother $300 million programme to FBRin order to overhaul tax administration aswell as mobilising revenues over nextthree years period.“After approving of IMF’s bailout pack-

age, the WB’s programme loans will be re-sumed including proposed $300 millionfor Revenue Mobilisation Programme,”senior official sources in FBR confirmed.In the first TARP-1 project, World Bank

and UK-based DFID’s sponsored Tax Ad-ministration Reform Project (TARP) butironically it failed to get the desired re-sults.FBR had remained unable to fully

utilise revised cost of Rs 6.473 billion onTARP project. So the exact estimated uti-lization on TARP stood at Rs 5.5 billion.Out of Rs 5.5 billion utilisation, FBR

spent Rs 2.767 billion on infrastructurefor construction of buildings of Large Tax-payers Units (LTUs), Regional TaxpayersOffices (RTOs) etc out of total estimatedcost of Rs 2.881 billion, purchasing vehi-cles Rs 176 million out of estimated cost ofRs 179 million, programme managementRs 271 million out of total estimated costof Rs 291 million, ICT Hardware Rs 1.572billion out of estimated cost of Rs 1.686

broaden its tax base.However, official documents showed

that the TARP-1 project was initiated onJanuary 1, 2005 for a period of five years.The initial estimated project cost was US$149 million (Rs. 9,501 million) (IDA: US$78.50 million; IBRD loan: US$ 24.40 mil-lion; DFID: US$ 23 million; and Govern-ment of Pakistan S$ 23.10m million) andwas approved as PC-I.The TARP was initiated in 2005 and

the development objective was to fun-damentally reform FBR for a more effi-cient and effective revenue administra-tion system.The overriding objective was to

raise tax revenue through improvedcompliance with tax laws and broad-ening of the tax base; improving effec-tiveness, responsiveness and efficiencyof tax administration through institu-tional and procedural reforms; im-proving collection through transpar-ent and high quality tax services; andstrengthening audit and enforcementprocedures.The project cost was revised down from

Rs. 9,501 million to Rs. 6,473 million in2009 through a revised PC-I and ECNECapproval with a revised implementationperiod upto 3l December 201 1. Surplusfunds of US$ 49.2 million (which includedthe IBRD loan of US$ 24.40 million) weresurrendered to the World Bank.The restructuring of TARP was under-

taken in September 2010. Under the re-structuring, TARP was extended upto 31December 2011 with more focus on resultbased indicators. The financing is 100%from the World Bank. No financing forGOP has been received.The official documents claimed that

tangible progress on TARP was achievedduring the calendar year of 2011. UnderTARP, FBR awarded 29 contracts with es-timated cost of $17 million and almost 70percent work had already been accom-plished in accordance with December 2011report. �

wB offers $300mloan for Revenue Mobilisation Programme

the programme aims to revamp fBr’s administrationand to increase revenues over medium term

billion, ICT Software Rs 285 million out oftotal estimated cost of Rs 312 million,technical assistance Rs 142 million out ofestimated cost of Rs 630 million andtraining of FBR officers and staff Rs 315

million out of estimated cost of Rs 493million.Top guns of tax machinery conceded

this fact that tax machinery remainedsluggish for utilising latest technology to

ISLAMABADsm haiderwww.customstoday.com

www.customstoday.comAuGuST 27 - SEPTEMBER 02, 2013 09ADVERTISEMENT

KARACHI10

tcP awards tender for import of 75,000mt ureaKARACHI: Despite being self-sufficient in Urea production, Pakistan has to import the fertilizer pri-marily because of acute shortage of natural gas in the country. Consequently the TradingCorporationof Pakistan (TCP), in response to its tender opened on 22-07-2013 has awarded contract for importof 75,000 metric tonnes (MTs) of Urea to the lowest bidder M/s. Swiss Singapore Overseas Enter-prises PTC at US$ 317.00 permetric tonne (PMT) C&F.

All Pakistan Customs AgentAssociation (APCAA)wants transparent inquiry

in Afghan Transit Trade (ATT)scam to reveal the real culprits in-volved in it.This was stated by Senior Vice

President All Pakistan CustomsAgents Association (APCAA) Ar-shad Jamal during an exclusive in-terview with Customs Today at hisoffice recently. He said that Fed-eral Board of Revenue (FBR), Cus-toms Department and National Ac-countability Bureau (NAB) heldinquiry about 28,000 missing con-tainers in ATT scam.However; National Logistics

Carrier (NLC) and Pakistan Rail-ways had already admitted beforeNAB that they had sent 10,000 and11,000 containers respectivelyacross the border to Afghanistanand Afghan authorities had ac-knowledged the same.Senior Vice President APCAA

Arshad Jamal said that CustomsDepartment should launch inquiryagainst its officials dealing withAfghan cargo.Jamal further informed that re-

hearing of ATT scam is to be con-ducted by Customs officials at theend of this month (August).He said that role of Customs

agents has already been elaboratedin public order 16/2000, that they

are only responsible for goods be-fore assessment & examination andafter that Customs officials, borderforce and national carriers are re-sponsible to help cross goods toAfghanistan.“We have held a detailed meet-

ing with Chairman FBR Tariq Ba-jwa in this regard and informedhim about view point of APCAA,and FBR Chairman assured us forconducting impartial inquiry inATT scam”, he added.�

APCAA wants impartial inquiryinto ATT scam, says Jamal

Customs Departmentshould launch inquiryagainst its officialsdealing with Afghancargo, says Senior VPAPCAA, arshad Jamal

Senior Vice President of APCAA Arshad Jamal talking exclusively with Customs Today.

KARACHIsohaiL raB khanwww.customstoday.com

www.customstoday.comAuGuST 27 - SEPTEMBER 02, 2013

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All Pakistan Customs AgentsAssociation (APCAA) hasprepared a 20-point agenda

for discussion with the ChairmanFederal Board of Revenue (FBR)and Chief Collector (Appraise-ment) in order to improve the workof Customs Department.The points of agenda are as fol-

lows:-APCAA has demanded intro-

duction ofmethods in order to curb

corruption from the department.Removal of complications createddue to the enhancement of Cus-toms stations.Introduction of hassle-free pro-

cedure to enroll the taxpayers inthe department by providing themID and password. Amendments inthe process of collecting Customslevy at National Bank of Pakistan(NBP), Customs House Branch.Induction of automation inWe-

BOC; as it is imperative to curb cor-ruption and helps in elucidatingthe entire procedure. Standing or-ders to be issued to restrict the de-

clarant for mentioning proper de-scription, weight, quantity andother information in the light ofCustoms tariff and valuation rul-ings, as the submission of inaccu-rate Goods Declarations (GDs) iscontinued with the connivance ofCustoms officials.Holding of the procedure of fil-

ing self goods declaration by com-mercial sector, as it causes to sab-otage the system. APCAA urgesvaluation ruling along with HScode in order to determine the ex-act value of duty and taxes besidesfacilitating goods declarants. �

APCAA prepares 20-point agenda for Customs DepttKARACHIcustoms todaY rePortwww.customstoday.com

FBR Chairman assuredAPCAA for conductingimpartial inquiry inATT scam

KARACHI 11

Pak exports up by 2.65% in 1st month of current fYLAHORE: Exports from the country increased by 2.65 percent during the first month of the current fis-cal year (2013-14) as against the exports of the same months of the last fiscal year. Exports during July2013 were recorded at $2.095 billion against the exports of $2.041 billion during July 2012, according tothe data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

www.customstoday.comAuGuST 27 - SEPTEMBER 02, 2013

General Secretary of KarachiCustoms Agents Associa-tion, Yahya Muhammad

said with full confidence that theirpanel would emerge successful inthe upcoming annual elections ofKarachi Customs Agents Associa-tion (KCAA), to be held on Septem-ber 26, 2013.

In an exclusive interview withCustomsToday, YahyaMuhammadsaid that their panel fully cooper-atedwith the CustomsDepartmentand its officials in their tenure.Commenting on performance of

Qasim International Container Ter-minal (QICT), he said that QICTmanagement is playing very sup-portive role to facilitate trade bodiesand clearing agents.However, Pak-istan International Container Ter-minal (PICT) and Karachi Interna-

tional Container Terminal (KICT)are not facilitating the clients.Importers, exporters and trade

bodies have to pay extra charges interms of demurrage and detentioncharges due to slowprocess of clear-ance at terminals.“QICT is clearing more contain-

ers every day as compared to PICTand KICT”, Muhammad said.“According to the Customs Act

203, 1969, Collector Customs maydecide storage/wharf age with ter-minal operators, but violation of thesaid Act is continued”, he furtheradded.Highlighting issues of clearing

agents, KCAA General Secretarysaid that authorities concernedhavecancelled licenses of several agentswithout any intimation or show-cause notice, causing great incon-venience for them.Yahya said that Customs officials

must have cordial relation withagents and they should conducttraining sessions on regular basis,adding that Federal Board of Rev-enue (FBR) should take onboardthe agents association and tradebodies while implementing or in-troducing any new strategy.Yahya appealed to Governor

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to in-troduce online system at all Na-tional Bank of Pakistan (NBP)branches so that importers can de-posit their tax returns online fromanywhere.He further said that authorities

concerned should decide the fate ofAfghan Transit Trade (ATT) scamonmerit basis.�

our panel will emerge successful in annualelections, hopes KCAA Gen Secy

he Karachi Customs Agents Association(KCAA) has announced its annual elections’schedule for the year 2013-14.According to the details, the annual elec-

tions of the KCAA for the year 2013-14 wouldbe held on September 26 while the last date offiling the nomination forms for contestingelections would be September 11.Scrutiny of the nomination papers will be

held on September 13 while the list of validnominations will be displayed on Sept 14.Moreover, the last date of withdrawal of

the nominations would be Sept 23.The finallist of the candidates will be displayed onSeptember 23. The current President of theagents body Saifullah Khan while talkingto Customs Today said that his panelKarachi Customs Agents Alliance will winthe upcoming elections for 4th time con-secutively.“We have full belief on our supporters and

the work done by the Customs Agents Asso-ciation in the best interest of the clearingagents”, he added. �

KARACHIsohaiL raB khanwww.customstoday.com

KCAA elections’ schedule announced

T

Customs Preventive ServiceClub organised a friendlyhockey match between In-

ternational XI and Customs XI, atCustoms Preventive Service Club& Sports Complex situated in Fed-eral B Area, on the occasion of66th Independence Day.Gul Faraz Ahmed Khan, Presi-

dent Sindh Hockey Associationand General Secretary CustomsPreventive Aurangzeb Khan werechief guests on the occasion, whilethe match was organised by Sec-retary Customs Preventive Serv-ice Club Kamil Hasan.The International Hockey

Team was led by Muhammad Ali,an international hockey player

while the Customs Hockey Teamwas led by its Captain AsadQureshi.The match was supervised by

Tassaduq Jaffery andMuhammadArshad of Sindh Police while Aj-mal Pasha, Sagheer Hussain andAzeem Khan acted as jury mem-bers in the match. Customs XIwon the match by 4-3 and thechief guests distributed prizesamong the winner and runner-upteams.Azeem Khan (Joint Secretary

Karachi Hockey Association),Mussarat Hussain (Ex-CoachHabib Bank Limited), Zahid Sha-hab (President Pakistan Instituteof Hockey), Tariq Khan (Joint Sec-retary Sindh Junior Hockey),Sagheer Hussain (Coach PakistanJunior Academy) and others werealso present on the occasion. �

Customs XI win friendly hockey match against Int’l XIKARACHIcustoms todaY rePortwww.customstoday.com

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Published by M. F. Riaz for Customs Today and Printed at Dhoom Printing Press Masheer Mahal Building, Off: I. I. Chundrigar Road, Karachi

1612 www.customstoday.comAuGuST 27 - SEPTEMBER 02, 2013