july 23 issue

Vol 1 No. 23 Tuesday july 23 - Monday july 29 , 2013 PriceRs. 50.00

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pAkISTAN’S FIRST INDEpTH NEwSpApER oN cUSToMS

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The Federal Board of Revenue(FBR) – the anchor of Pak-istan’s economic ship – has a

new captain in the person of TariqBajwa, a public servant with a longand distinguished record of servicein the finance and revenue sectors.

It is hoped that with the induc-tion of Tariq Bajwa, there will be adistinctive positive change in theperformance of FBR which has re-peatedly failed to achieve its revenuetargets in the last few years.Mr Tariq Bajwa has had an illus-

trious career in public service span-ning more than three decades. Hebrings to the job a wealth of profes-sional knowledge, expertise and ex-perience which will be of tremen-dous help to him in fulfilling the

onerous responsibilities of his newchallenging assignment.Mr Tariq Bajwa has a distin-

guished academic record. He did hisLLB from the University of Punjaband holds an MPA degree fromKennedy School of Government,Harvard University, USA. His pro-fessional expertise is Public PolicyFormulation and Implementationwith specialization in public and cor-porate finance. Financial planning,management and administration are

Brings to thejob a wealth of

expertise and experienceAN ABlE oFFIcER wITH A DISTINgUISHEDREcoRD oF SERvIcE, BAjwA IS SURE To IMpARTA NEw IMpETUS AND MoMENTUM To FBR

new FBR ChairmanTariq Bajwa

FAIZA ISRAR ANDSYED MUHAMMAD TAHIRwww.customstoday.com.pk

See page on 03

Customs Intelligence under-took several steps to eradicatethe menace of smuggling by

increasing surveillance on all routeswith neighbouring countries.In an exclusive interviewwith Cus-

toms Today, Former Director Gen-eral Customs Intelligence KhalidMehmood said that during the periodJuly 2012 – April 2013, the Direc-torate General had carried out vigor-ous enforcement and anti-smugglingactivities making major seizures ofsmuggled liquor (along with thelaunches used for maritime trans-port), antiques (duly certified to re-late to Gandhara Civilisation),cloth/fabrics, blankets, tyres, elec-tronic goods, cosmetics, polyethylenegranules (plastic granules), narcotics,Iranian diesel, Iranian LPG, etc.The Directorate General, he said,

had also seized smuggled/non-dutypaid vehicles in significant numbers,in the above-mentioned period, bar-ring the period during which the Ve-hicles Amnesty Scheme-2013 (05March – 06 April 2013) was opera-tive.“Besides, several substantial con-

travention cases have been made in-volving import violations. Only infour major contravention cases, con-sisting of imported yarn, printed cir-cuit boards, CNG cylinders and tugboats, duty/tax evasion of Rs472mil-lion had been detected.”He said the regional offices of the

Directorate General in Lahore and

Karachi had unearthed mega sales taxfraud cases during 2009-11, involvingissuance of fake sales tax invoices inthe name of dummy/fictitious units.“FIRs were registered in Lahoreagainst 303 fraudulent units. Total de-tected amount till 30.06.2011 in La-hore was Rs10.4 billion which went upto Rs14.0 billion during the course ofinvestigations in respect of FIRs regis-tered prior to 30.06.2011. In Lahore,an amount of Rs3 billion has also beenrecovered. In Karachi, separate FIRswere registered against 6,980 unitswhich had adjusted inadmissible in-put tax to the estimated tune ofRs15.19 billion. An amount of Rs1.4billion has been recovered.Another amount of Rs 862 million

is recoverable against the contraven-tion cases adjudicated by the respec-tive RTOs/LTUs. An amount of Rs3.13billion is stuck up in cases undergoinglitigation in the Lahore High Court,Peshawar High Court and Sindh HighCourt. This has slowed the recoveryprocess,” Khalid added.Khalid said the performance of the

Directorate General during the currentyear has been considerably positivegiven the delivery, in particular, interms of the seizures of launches/boatsbringing in liquor from overseas andthe artifacts relating to Gandhara Civ-ilization.“At the same time, the success of

the car amnesty scheme, in part oweditself to the vigorous enforcement cam-paign launched by the DirectorateGeneral in coordination with variouscustoms formations. The work willcontinue with greater vigour and zealwith a view to helping the Boardachieve its targets.”

02

kuwait very keen on preventing smuggling of nuclear materialsVIENNA: Kuwait is keen on preventing nuclear material from being smuggled through its border, said an official. Afterhis participation in the IAEA’s International Conference on Nuclear Security, Head of the Customs affairs departmentat Kuwait General Administration of Customs, Majed Al-Qemlas, said that his country joined the IAEA’s Database onIllicit Trafficking (ITDB) in 2008, becoming the 100thmember. The ITDB enabled Kuwait to exchange information withthe IAEA on smuggled nuclear materials.

Customs intelligence vigilant against smugglersSM HAIDERwww.customstoday.com.pk

DIREcToRATE gENERAl pERFoRMANcE INjUlY 2012-ApRIl 2013

No of cases value of seized goods

387 Rs 1,149m

ANTI-SMUgglINg (EXclUDINg NDp vEHIclES)

No of cases value of NDp vehicles

422 Rs 532.49m

ANTI-SMUgglINg (NDp vEHIclES)

Description Quantity cIF value

Fabric 1,460,526 Yards Rs 114.70m

Blanket 16,947 Nos Rs 25.10m

Yarn 24,400 Kgs Rs 10.6m

TEXTIlE SEcToR SEIZURES

Description of goods value of goods value of launches

Liquor 19,014 Bottles &Beer 74,090 Cans Rs 113m Rs 3.0m

Liquor 24,963 Bottles & Beer 57,408 Cans Rs 153m Rs 3.0m

Liquor 25,541 Bottles & Beer 85,811 Cans Rs 145m Rs 2.5m

HsD Oil 9000 Liter & Petrol 710 Liters Rs 1.10m Rs 1.8m

HsD Oil 21,382 Liters Rs 2.37m Rs 2.5m

HsD Oil 32,469 Liters Rs 3.60m Rs 3.0m

HsD Oil 22,700 Liter & Lube Oil 320 Liters Rs 3.04m Rs 8.5m

ANTI-SMUgglINg (SEA opERATIoNS)

No of Falcons value

36 Falcons Rs 36m

ANTI-SMUgglINg (‘FAlcoNS’ – ATTEMpT To SMUgglE oUT)

No of cases value

1 700 objects/artifacts

2 Value yet to be determined by Archeology Department

No of cases Duty & Taxes

127 Rs 1,195.043m

2012-13 (july-April) 2011-12 (july-April)

(Rs in Million) (Rs in Million)

381.78 409.005

ANTI-SMUgglINg (ANTIQUES)

No of cases charas (in kgs) opium (in kgs) Heroin (in kgs)

17 2,112.8 99 31.285

ANTI-SMUgglINg (NARcoTIcS cASES)

cUSToMS coNTRAvENTIoN cASES

REvENUE REAlIZED (cUSToMS INclUDINg AUcTIoNS)

2012-13 (july-April) 2011-12 (july-April)

(Rs in Million) (Rs in Million)

381.78 409.005

REvENUE REAlIZED (SAlES TAX - oN pREvIoUS cASES)

Regional offices ofDirectorate General

in Lahore andKarachi had

unearthed megasales tax fraud cases

during 2009-11involving issuance of

fake sales taxinvoices in the nameof dummy/Qctitious

units enablingregistered personsclaim illegal inputtax adjustments in

order to reduce theirtax liabilities, says

khalid Mehmood

exCLusiVe www.customstoday.com.pkJuLY 23 - 29, 2013

www.customstoday.com.pkJuLY 23 - 29, 2013 NATiONAL 03

lanka customs nabs pakistani smuggling medical equipment and drugsCOLOMBO: Sri Lanka Customs Sunday arrested a Pakistani national who attempted to smuggle equipment used for circumci-sions and drugs prescribed for psychiatric patients. The Customs seized 1,000 equipment used for circumcisions and 6,000tablets used for mental illnesses parceled as a gift pack. The 33 year old Pakistani national has a resident visa in Sri Lanka andis married to a Sri Lankan woman. The Customs has noticed that he has been traveling between the two countries regularly.

his forte.During more than 33 years of pub-lic service, he has held important positions invarious government departments and han-dled a number of sensitive assignments withdistinction. Before joining the Punjab gov-ernment, Mr Tariq Bajwa served as JointSecretary, theMinistry of Industries andwasassociated with a number of high profileprojects to speed up the industrializationprocess in the country.Since joining the Punjab government in

September 2010, Mr Tariq Bajwa has beenthe sheet anchor of the Finance Departmentin Punjab.During the last three years he has played

a key role in formulating budgetary propos-als and estimates as per the policy guide-lines of the government and public sectordevelopment needs. How crucial a role hehas been playing is clear from the fact thatdespite frequent reshuffle of higher bureau-cracy he has not been moved from the Fi-nance Department.

As an able and devoted civil servantknown for hard work and honesty,Mr. TariqTariq Bajwa earned the trust of Chief Minis-ter Nawaz Sharif who kept him on board inconceiving and implementing a number ofvital Punjab government projects in the en-ergy, transport, service reform and other sec-tors. When Shahbaz Sharif visited Turkeylast year to solicit Turkish investment in theenergy sector,Mr Tariq Bajwawas appointedthe focal person for discussing project fi-nancing with Turkey’s EXIM Bank and fi-nalizing related matters.It is pertinent tomention here that former

Caretaker Punjab Chief Minister NajamSethi paid rich tributes to Tariq Bajwa sayingthat his positive attitude had changed his

concept about a finance secretary. He saidthat Tariq Bajwa had extended full coopera-tion to him at every stage and adoptedmeas-ures for the benefit of the common man,adding that Provincial Secretary Financewas a kind hearted person and his coopera-tion in social sector programmes had beencommendable. He also expressed satisfac-tion over the robust financial position of theprovince.PrimeMinister Nawaz Sharif decision to

induct Tariq Bajwa as FBR Chairmanshows his concern over the dismal record ofthe country’s main revenue collection ma-chinery. FBR once again missed the annual

revenue collection target by huge margin ofRs 430 billion during the financial yearfrom July 2012 to June 2013 despite im-posing new taxes worth billions of ru-pees.The FBR has provisionally collectedtaxes worth Rs1,940 billion during the lastfinancial year 2012-13.FBR has been struggling to achieve the

revenue collection target and revised itseveral times. The budgetary target ofRs2,381 billion was revised downward toRs2,191 billion for 2012-13 and furtherslashed to Rs2,050 billion and then toRs2007 billion.In a bid to achieve the revenue target,

three tax amnesty schemes were announced,but FBR failed to achieve the revised target ofRs2007 billion.The appointment of Tariq Bajwa as FBR

Chairman is clearly a part of Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif’s plan to bring in a teamof com-petent, dedicated and honest bureaucrats torun the affairs of country.It is hoped that Tariq Bajwa would be

given a free hand in collecting Rs2,475 billiontax target for financial year 2013-14. Givenhis past record, Tariq Bajwa is sure to give anew sense of direction to FBR and providethe kind of leadership needed to achieve thedesired results.

From page 01

Chairman FBR Tariq Bajwa at his office desk. —exclusive Customs Today photo

04

US customs seizes banned African elephant ivory braceletBALTIMORE: US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at BWI seized a carved African elephant ivory bracelet. TheCBP agricultural specialists saw a passenger returning from a trip to Liberia, and noticed the bracelet. They trans-ferred the passenger to a secondary inspection and confiscated the bracelet. From the incident the CBP decide to con-tact theU.S. Fish andWildlife Service (USFWS) in order to determinewhatmaterials the bracelet wasmade of. USFWSinspector determined that the bracelet was made of banned ivory, and was turned over to the inspector.

NATiONAL

The government has pro-posed several measures inBudget 2013-14 regarding

Customs for providing relief to gen-eral public and encouraging growthand investment, besides reducingthe cost of doing business.While presenting the Budget

2013/14, Finance Minister IshaqDar had elaborated that Pakistaniimport regime over the decades hadbecome fraught with the complexsystem of discriminatory exemp-tions and concessions and everyyear thenational exchequer suffereda loss of Rs100 billion on account ofthese exemptions. “In today’sworldof free trade and level playing field,this practice could not continue,” hesaid and added that the governmenthad to adopt a single tax and tariffsystem by abolishing the culture ofSROs.Following are the reliefmeasures

relating to Customs tariff structurein Budget 2013-14:Further reduction in duty& taxes

onHybridElectric Vehicles (HEVs),ranging from25% to 100%, accord-ing to their engine capacity.Duty free import of “bio re-ab-

sorbable vascular scaffold” (heartstents) to decrease their cost forheart patients. Exemption of dutyand sales tax on energy savingtubes, presently with 20% duty, toencourage the use of energy efficientelectrical equipment.Streamlining andderegulation of

the procedure for exempting importof renewable energy resources com-patible equipment to promote theiruse and incentivise investment inthis field.Reduction of customsduty on of-

fice or school supplies from 25% to20% to lower their price and reduceclassification disputes.

Duty and sales tax free import ofsolar submersible pumps presently@20%duty to encourage use of en-ergy efficient electrical equipment.Reduction of duty on water treat-ment & purifying machinery andequipment from 20% to 15% tomake them accessible to generalpublic.Streamlining the procedure for

re-import of machinery & equip-ment sent abroad for repair etc byindustrial importers.Reduction of customs duty on

Medium Density Fibre (MDF)

Board. Streamlining of tariff struc-ture to incentivise growth and in-vestment.Creation of separate PCT codes

of newly indigenized vehicles to in-centivise local auto industry.Creation of a new PCT code for

classification of satellite phone andwater dispenser to reduce classifi-cation disputes and improve importstatistics.Editorial correction of descrip-

tion and classification in the tariff.Regulatory control on ex-

empt/concessionary import of agri-

culturalmachinery, tourism sector,packaging industry and pharma-ceutical sector is being strengthenedto ensure that the benefit is availedby bona fide importers only.Editorial changes for simplifica-

tion of concessionary SROs is alsobeingmade to remove duplications,spelling errors or redundant entries.Revenue Measure: Increase in

duty on betel nuts from 15% to20% and betel leaves fromRs200/kg to Rs300/kg to discour-age their use on account of adversehealth effects.

legislative changes:Amendment in section 2 (la) of

the Customs Act, 1969 will providelegal cover for filing of transhipmentgoods declaration in ComputerisedClearance System.Introduction of new section

3DDD inCustomsAct, 1969 to pro-vide legal cover to the DirectorateGeneral of Input Output Co-effi-cient Organization (IOCO).Amendment in section 14-A of

theCustomsAct, 1969,whereby ter-minal operators/custodian of goodswill be bound to entertain the delayand detention certificates issued bycustoms authorities for waiver ofdemurrage charges. This measurewill mitigate the financial hardshipfaced on this count by genuine im-porters.Amendment in section 14-A of

the Customs Act, 1969 will requirethe custodian of goods/terminal op-erator to provide adequate securityand residential accommodation tothe customs staff.Sub-section (4) of section 32 em-

powers the appropriate officer todetermine payable amount.Presently this section does not coverthe liability found on account ofPost Clearance Audit. Inclusion ofsub-section-3A in sub-section 4willfulfil this legal requirement.Amendment in section 81 of

Customs Act, 1969, to delete PostDated Cheque as an acceptable se-curity against provisional assess-ment.Section 80-A appearing in sub-

section 2 of Section 83 is being pro-posed to be omitted. The referenceof section 80-A under section 83 ismeaningless since section 80-A isalready omitted.Amendment in section 179 of the

CustomsAct, 1969will fix the adju-dication powers in case of exportedgoods in relation to their FOB valueas against duty and taxes in case ofimported goods.

cUSToMS ToDAY REpoRTwww.customstoday.com.pk

www.customstoday.com.pkJuLY 23 - 29, 2013

customs tariff:budgetry relief measures

— exclusive Customs Today photo

ADVeRTiseMeNT 05www.customstoday.com.pkJuLY 23 - 29, 2013

NATiONAL06

karachi customs seizes 4kg goldKARACHI: Pakistan Customs had foiled a bid of gold smuggling after recovering 4-kg gold from a Pakistani pas-senger Sohail Musa, who arrived from Dubai to Pakistan by Emirates Airline EK-600. The customs officialssearched him and his baggage minutely and recovered 4-kg jewellery, which was partly concealed in baggage andwrapped around his body. The customs officials seized the gold and arrested the passenger.

The misuse of vehicles amnestyscheme has caused multi-billion ru-pees loss to the national exchequer,

former Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) DrShoaib Suddle disclosed at a press confer-enceShoaib Suddle said that he had found

through investigation that the Customs De-

partment had cleared 52 vehicles apparentlyin collusion with FBR’s staff on one Com-

puterised National Identity Card (CNIC).“We have found during the investigation

by scrutinising small sample data that 61CNICs were used for clearing 1405 vehiclesunder the amnesty scheme,” Dr Shoaib Sud-dle said.According to findings of the FTO, Syed

Ameen Shah, a resident of Pashin cleared 52Hino trucks fromKarachi, Habib Ullah fromQuetta cleared 51 Toyota Hiace van fromKarachi,WaliMohammad cleared 50Mazdatrucks and Abdul Wali, a resident ofChaman, cleared 50 Toyota Hilux pickups.It was found that almost one-third vehi-

cles were cleared without physical entry ofvehicles into the country as investigatorsproved that 407 vehicles were cleared whichwere still lying in auction yard located atTokyo.Of 407 such vehicles, 242 were cleared by

Model Customs Collectorate AppraisementKarachi and 42 were cleared in Faisalabad.If this sample was applied on all cleared ve-hicles of over 49,000 then 16,000 vehicleswere cleared which did not even enter thecountry.Answering a query, he said the normal

duty required to pay is Rs2.1 million forclearing a vehicle but the amnesty scheme

provided an incentive forclearing a vehicle by justpaying Rs0.3 million so theloss to national exchequerstood at Rs 1.8 million injust one example.

Under vehicleamnesty scheme,the FBR cleared49,462 vehiclesfromMarch 5 toApril 6, 2013and fetchedRs15.814 bil-lion. Another887 vehicles

were reported underprocess when the ex-

tended date of April 6 ex-pired. During the last six schemes imple-mented from 1998 to 2007, the total number

of legalised vehicles from Peshawar Collec-torate stood at 8699 but the number of ve-hicles legalised under the amnesty schemeof 2013 stands at 17,381, which is almostdouble as compared to all previous schemes.The FTO had taken suo moto notice on

April 1 on the basis of information thatmanyvehicles were allowed to clear which werestanding at the auction stage in Japan. “Suchscandalous recklessness on the part of Cus-toms indicated that the department was to-tally impervious to change, even in the af-termath of ISAF scam – the mother of allscams,” Dr Suddle stated.He said that they traced 18 vehicles

which were shipped from Japan for Dubaiafter expiry of amnesty scheme but werecleared by the Customs before their arrivalin Pakistan.“This takes the total number of so far

confirmed ghost vehicles to 425 which hadnot yet arrived in Pakistan but were clearedduring the amnesty,” he stated. Thisamnesty scheme, he said, allowed reduc-tion in duty and taxes in respect of smug-gled vehicles up to 60 percent for cars and72 percent for other vehicles.

vehicles’ amnesty scheme

Misuse causes multi-billion rupees loss to exchequercUSToMS ToDAY REpoRTwww.customstoday.com.pk

The Customs Depart-ment has introducedimproved systems in-

cluding Weboc, Pax andGreen Channel in order tomodernise its working. Thiswas revealed by Customsspokesman Qamar Thalhowhile talking exclusively toCustoms Today.

Referring to Weboc(Web-based One Customs),Thalho said modern tech-nology was being intro-duced to facilitate the im-porters. With the help ofthis facility, the importerscould fill up their GDs(Goods Declaration) on weband submit it to the CustomDepartment, he added. “By

using Weboc, the importerscan conveniently submittheir GDs online and theCustoms Department willprocess it further", headded.Responding to a query,

Thalho said the CustomsDepartment would furtherexpand such facilities forthe convenience of the im-porters.He said the Customs De-

partment had also intro-duced Pax (Pakistan Auto-mated ComputerisedSystem) in order to enhanceits revenue collection, whilethe Green Channel at air-ports had been installed inorder to facilitate the pas-

sengers.Thalho said the Customs

Department had five collec-torates including Preventiveand Enforcement, Ap-praisement, Pax, Exportand Port Qasim to collectthe revenues. “PreventionCollectorate is working toprevent the smuggling andgets its revenue from col-lecting duty on oil anddiesel", he added.He said revenue recovery

of the department heavilydepends on AppraisementCollectorate and Pax Collec-torate, and these collec-torates are considered asthe revenue engine of theCustoms Department.

Customs modernisition facilitates importers


According to Qndings of the FTO, syedAmeen shah, a resident of Pashin cleared 52Hino trucks from Karachi, Habib ullah fromQuetta cleared 51 Toyota Hiace vans from

Karachi, Wali Mohammad cleared 50 Mazdatrucks and Abdul Wali, a resident of Chaman,

cleared 50 Toyota Hilux pickups.

Habib ullah from Quetta cleared 51Toyota Hiace vans from Karachi

NATiONAL 07

Two Indonesian women caught for smuggling syabuPRAI: Customs officers have arrested two Indonesian women who attempted to smuggle into the country 9.19 kg ofmethamphetamine (syabu) valued at RM1.75 million via the Penang international airport in two incidents. One of thewomen, aged 32, was arrested when she tried to bring in three kilogramme of the drug valued at RM570,000 stored infour plastic packs in a special compartment in her luggage.

The Federal Board of Rev-enue (FBR) has started in-tensive efforts to broaden

the tax base by using the NationalDataWarehouse (NDW) and has fi-nalised a detailed implementationplan in this regard.The use of the National Data

Warehouse will help the Board inidentifying the new taxpayers whocan be brought into the tax net. TheNDWwouldbeused in variouswaysfor this purpose, including its usagefor acquisition of data through pro-file loading and data mining. Oncethis is done, the respective RTOswould be sent the details and elec-tronic profiles of these potential tax-payers so that BTBnotifications canbe issued by the tax commissionersconcerned. All the monitoring andcontrol of the process would be au-tomated and systembased. TheFBRhas also upgraded its call centre fa-cility for the facilitation of the tax-payers. Linkages with 3rd partysources, including provincial rev-enue authorities, have also been es-tablished for effective implementa-tion andmonitoring.To strengthen the enforcement

mechanism for the BTB plan, vari-ousdecisionshavebeenmadeby theFBR which include initiation ofstatutory proceedings against per-

sonswho fail to respond toOutreachnotifications through issuanceof no-tices under section 114 of IncomeTax Ordinance, 2001. In case of ataxpayer’s persistent non-compli-ance, provisional assessmentwouldbe finalised and the taxpayer wouldstill have the option to file a return

accompanied by awealth statementand reconciliation of wealth state-ment within a period of sixty dayswhereby the provisional assessmentorder will be automatically vitiated.If the taxpayer does not file the

return and required documentswithin sixty days, the tax liability

raised as per the provisional assess-ment order would become final andwould be recoverable and, if neces-sary, penal and prosecution pro-ceedings would be initiated, whichmay culminate in imprisonment andimposition of fine, in selected casesfor creating credible deterrence.

FBR starts intensive efforts to broaden tax basecUSToMS ToDAY REpoRTwww.customstoday.com.pk

Government of PakistanOffice of Chief Collector(Central) has collected

customs duty of Rs 32680.58million during financial year2012-13, Rs1772.53 millionmore as compared toRs30908.05 million duringfinancial year 2011-12.According to details, LahoreCustoms Appraisement sectioncollected customs dutytotalling Rs15892.73 millionwhile Lahore CustomsPreventive section collectedRs3868.64 million during FY2012-13.Other Collectorates of Customswhich come under CustomsHouse Lahore, the Collectorateof Customs Multan collectedRs10364.61 million whileFaisalabad collected customsduty totalling Rs2554.60million.The Lahore CustomsPreventive and Appraisementwings and Collectorate ofFaisalabad showed improvedperformance while MultanCollectorate’s performancewas not up to the mark as theCollectorate collectedRs1531.43 million less during2012-13 as compared to thecorresponding period of FY2011-12.The Lahore Appraisementsection collected Rs2190million more as compared tothe previous year 2011-12.similarly, the Lahore CustomsPreventive section addedRs397.03 million more ascompared last year. it is saidthe duty collection at MultanCustoms Collectorate fell dueto weak surveillance andchecking of goods.On the other hand, the LahoreAppraisement, Preventive andFaisalabad Collectoratesremained more efficientthrough strict surveillance andchecking of goods at the dryports and airports. Theperformance of the LahoreCustoms improved manifoldas compared to FY 2009-10due to strict measuresincluding registering FiRs andpunishing the smugglers ofillegal goods and articles.


collectoratesunder lahorecustoms collectRs32680.58m

FeATuRe08

The Karachi International ContainerTerminal (KICT), the country’s oneof the leading container terminal

operators, has been operating since 1998.It is located within the Karachi Port cover-ing a total area of 26.03 hectares. The KICThas five berths equipped with modern con-tainer-handling equipment and each berthis 973 metres in length. Nine containerquay cranes are fully operational at theKICT for offloading the containers. It hasalso 29 rubber tyred gantry cranes and sixforklifts. The KICT has eight empty han-dlers and 10 reach stackers. It also con-tains 58-yard tractors, 75-yard chassis and528 reefer plugs.The KICT is a member of the Hutchison

Port Holdings (HPH) Group, a subsidiaryof the multinational corporation theHutchison Whampoa Limited (HWL),which is the world’s leading port investor,developer and operator.One of the officials at the KICT told Cus-

toms Today that they are committed to en-hance the satisfaction of customers by pro-viding reliable, effective and safe terminaloperations. He said the KICT administra-tion, with its continuous efforts and effi-ciency in services at all levels, has placedworld’s leading terminals.The KICT has always taken part in ac-

tivities that have changed and improvedlives especially those of children. To ex-press long-term commitment to the com-munity, the KICT administration has beenextending financial assistance through dif-ferent programmes including constructionof educational centres. One of such exam-ples is Lyari Model School which is locatedin the centre of Lyari Town, an under-de-veloped locality situated in westernKarachi where most of the residents livebelow the poverty line.The parents of most of 600 students at

the school find it difficult to make bothends meet and they can’t afford to spendon children’s education. Unfortunately,Lyari Model School was overlooked byNGOs due to its proximity to posh areas ofKarachi. The KICT stepped in to help theschool and its students. The terminal pro-vides the school with money it needs toimpart free tutoring, teaching materialsand uniforms as the KICT sees this as aninvestment for the better future of LyariTown.The KICT has also introduced SOS Chil-

dren Village located in Malir area. It is aprivate social welfare organisation dedi-cated to the care of orphans and aban-doned children. It provides children with ahome and family-like environment. Everyeffort is made to enrich children withstrong moral values, modern educationand skills that will enable them to becomeproductive citizens. The Village has 15 fam-ily houses to shelter children between theages of 3 to 22.Currently, 186 children are living in

these family houses and the SOS adminis-tration is trying to provide them with anenvironment where they feel protected.

The children are given an opportunity toparticipate in physical activities and thereis a proper cricket ground and a basketballcourt. However, the children were unableto play basketball as the court was in badshape and needed refurbishment. The orig-inal floor of the court was completely bro-ken and needed to be reconstructed.With the belief that physical activities

are an integral part when it comes toproper upbringing of children, the KICTtook prompt initiative and renovated thebasketball court. The construction of thebasketball court will help the children toutilise their time in a constructive man-ner. Building a basketball court for thesedeprived children is a small step towards a

better future generation.Furthermore, one of the KICT’s primary

goals is to maintain the health and safety ofits employees and other port workers. It iscommitted to ensure that the employeesand contractors work together in an envi-ronment that is as free of occupational haz-ards as possible and follow occupationalsafety laws in letter and spirit.The KICT is to enhance the perform-

ance through commitment of manage-ment, promotion of personal accountabil-ity, implementation of staff trainingprogrammes and measurement of per-formance based on occupational safety-re-lated criteria.It also promotes safety culture through

SoHAIl RAB kHANwww.customstoday.com.pk

AFAcIlITYpAREXKarachi international Container Terminal

KiCT is to enhance theperformance through the

commitment of management,the promotion of personal

accountability, theimplementation of staff training

programmes and themeasurement of performancebased on occupational safety-

related criteria


09FeATuRe

a terminal public address system, broad-casting information about safety rules andregulations in different languages includ-ing Urdu, English and Pushto.The KICT complies with all laws and

regulations to reduce its impact on the en-vironment. It also promotes environmentalprotection habits among its staff members.The KICT uses Synchronous Planning

and Real-time Control System (SPARCS)software from Navis to help optimiselabour utilisation, manage yard space anddeploy equipment. Vessel plans, receivedas EDI documents, are imported directlyinto the database allowing vessel and yardplanners to plan operations on a GUI in-terface concurrently and in real-time.

SPARCS keeps equipment idle time andthe number of handlings per container to aminimum. This helps maximise terminalproductivity and profitability.EXPRESS software helps the KICT man-

age business transactions according tounique procedures and rules. The dynamicreporting capabilities built into EXPRESSenable terminal managers to track perform-ance, increase profitability and improve cus-tomer service. This eliminates the need forpaper-based tracking and reduces humanerrors as all transactions are recorded andinvoiced accurately in real-time.The combination of SPARCS and EX-

PRESS gives a computerised and real-timetracking of the cargo for the entire time

that a container is at the terminal. This isfacilitated through real-time tracking byradio data terminals in the yard.Other IT advances allow the KICT to

work closely with the shipping communityand port authorities.Using an Electronic Data Interchange

(EDI), BAPLIE, CODECO, COARRI, IN-VOIC and IFTMBC allows the KICT to sendinformation electronically to customers ina timely manner.Other state-of-the-art technology at the

KICT includes a wireless LAN for moni-toring quay cranes, IP telephony and VHFsfor effective internal communications, ahighly reliable data backup solution anddisaster recovery solution.

The combination of SpARcS andEXpRESS allows for computerised,

real-time tracking of the cargofor the entire time that a

container is at the terminal

XcEllENcE


eDiTORiAL10

Customs Today is an independentnewspaper focussing on the customscommunity. This community is a vital

part of the taxation machinery whichgenerates the revenue needed by thegovernment to run its day-to-day affairs. Thecustoms community comprises customsofficers and their families, importers andexporters, customs clearing agents and, at awider level, people impacted by thegovernment's trade policy and FBR’s customsrules and regulations and sROs.Our aim is to become the authentic voice andface of the customs community. We aim tomake our newspaper a kind of facebook, so tosay, where members of the customscommunity can socially meet and interact. Wewill publish news and pictures of social eventsand gatherings which members of thecustoms community will look forward to readevery week. Customs Today will also highlightthe problems of the customs community suchas housing and schooling facilities for theirchildren. We will ventilate their grievancesand do our best to have them redressed.Customs Today will highlight theachievements of the customs departmentcollectively as well as the successes ofindividual officers in raising revenue for thegovernment. The customs department is theguardian of Pakistan’s economic borders. Wewill project its image from this perspectiveand emphasize its role in regulating andsupervising the Row of imports and exportsfor balanced economic growth.Our policy is to remain positive and helpful inthe coverage of the customs department andits activities, operations, events and news.While writing about problems we will beconstructive in our approach. The overall aimis to serve the larger interests of the countryand the economy. There are lots of useful andinteresting information relating to customsthat largely go unreported now. CustomsToday will provide the relevant-based andsolution-oriented reporting will be our forte.At the same time, in-depth analyses ofpolicies and decisions relating to the customsdepartment will be undertaken to educate thepeople on tax matters. We will also publishreviews and simpliQed explanations ofdifficult concepts and topics. in short, we aimto make Customs Today such a powerful,reliable and inRuential medium ofcommunication that the customs communityas well as general readers will increasinglycome to depend on it for the latest news andinformation about what is happening in thisvital sector -nationally and internationally.Customs Today is available online 24/7.

The Pak-China relationship is amany-splendoured phenomenon.It is a relationship of which there

are few examples in the world. It is a re-lationship that has kept growing fromstrength to strength in the crucible oftime.The changing dynamics of interna-

tional relations have not affected its ba-sic strength and structure, nor has theevolving scenario of regional politicalconfiguration been able to deflect the twocountries from their chosen path.The ties have been further strength-

ened by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’slatest visit to China.The visit has yielded a rich harvest of

agreements. The centrepiece of theagreements is the one on a long-termeconomic corridor to be built at a cost ofaround $18 billion. The 2,000-kilometreroad and rail link will connect the north-western city of Kashgar to Gwadar port,opening up new vistas of trade and eco-nomic development between the twocountriesAnother high mark of the visit is the

memorandum of understanding signedby the two countries pertains to the con-struction of the Lahore-Karachi Motor-way with Chinese assistance. For thispurpose, a memorandum of understand-ing has been signed, following which

Prime Minister Nawaz has ordered theconcerned departments to complete theproject within two-and-a-half years.Nawaz Sharif said: “Once this project

is completed, travel time between Lahoreand Karachi will be drastically reduced …this will ultimately promote business ac-tivity in the region,” adding that all fourprovinces would benefit from it. The La-hore-Karachi Motorway would also beconnected to the Kashgar-Gwadar high-way as well.The successful implementation of the

Gwadar-Khunjerab-Kashgar rail androad network will give a big boost to Pak-

istan’s struggling economy, besides help-ing China to secure oil supply and com-mercial routes on the Indian Ocean.The project will route Chinese goods

destined for the Middle East and otherglobal destinations from Urumqi throughGwadar.It will save the Chinese half of their

current voyage time and secure their oilsupplies and commercial routes. It maybe mentioned here that the distancefrom Dubai to Khunjerab is 3,300 miles,

while the distance from Dubai to Shang-hai via the Indian Ocean is about 9,000miles.Needless to say, on a long-term basis

the project holds immense potential fornew trade opportunities for Pakistan, asChina will be the next big consumer mar-ket for Pakistani products in the comingyears.According to experts, the Kashgar-

Gwadar economic corridor will createthousands of jobs and promote economicgrowth and bring prosperity in Balochis-tan, a historically underdevelopedprovince. Pakistan will also receive a

transit fee for all goods passing throughits territories.Trade between Pakistan and China

has expanded rapidly in recent years,reaching a figure of $ 12 billion last year.As part of an effort to boost the annualtrade value between the two countries to$20 billion, Pakistan and China havenow agreed to adopt new promotionalmeasures, including the construction ofeconomic and industrial cities in Gwadarand other parts of Pakistan.

EDIToRIAl

Kashgar-Gwadar economic Corridor

Founder & Chairman ZulNqar Alieditor Nasim Ahmed

Regional Director Turab [email protected]

For advertising & [email protected]

+92-324-4404694www.customstoday.com.pk

Phones: 042-35781643-4, Fax: 042-35781645Address: 627, siddiq Trade Centre, Gulberg, Lahore

A communitypaper

A new gateway to economic prosperityNASIM AHMEDwww.customstoday.com.pk


The successful implementation of the Gwadar-Khunjerab-Kashgar railand road network will give a big boost to Pakistan’s strugglingeconomy, besides helping China to secure oil supply and commercialroutes on the indian Ocean.

11

£1.3 million drugs seizedNEW JERSEY: Jersey Customs and Immigration have seized cannabis worth a total of £1.3 million in the last week.They discovered 40 kilos of the drug in a concealed car that had arrived on the Condor fast ferry from Poole. A 27-year-old British male has been charged with drug trafficking offences for this seizure. On Tuesday, a long term op-eration resulted in 72 kilos of cannabis being found in a commercial vehicle in St Lawrence.

isLAMABAD

The Federal Board of Rev-enue (FBR) will establishHelp Line for obtaining

information about cigarettes’ il-legal movement, stocks and man-ufacturing facilities and operationwill be launched against thismenace.The FBR’s Intelligence and In-

vestigation of Inland Revenues(IR) seized 36 million sticks ofdifferent brands of cigarettes dur-ing the last financial year 2012-13ended on June 30, 2013, whichwas the highest ever seizure in thehistory of the FBR. Earlier, in2009, the Customs Intelligenceand all Collectorates had seized30 million sticks of illegal ciga-rettes.The FBR, an official said, was

expecting revenue collection ofmore than Rs 81 billion throughtaxation on cigarettes in the cur-rent financial year and for thispurpose, measures would betaken against those involved inits illegal business.According to official docu-

ments, the FBR’s I&I of IR con-ducted one of the biggest opera-tions in Faisalabad, in pursuanceof credible information and sur-veillance of suspected distribu-tors/wholesalers/stockists of cig-arettes. The authorised teamunder supervision of Mrs.Farzana Gohar Ali visitedgodowns at Sir Syed Town DijkotRoad Faisalabad on 3-7-2013.During physical stock taking,2.483 million sticks of differentbrands of cigarettes found storedin these two godowns in towns ofFaisalabad.The FBR team demanded sales

tax invoices/goods declarations

showing payment of duties andtaxes of stored cigarettes from theowners but they failed to furnishanything.In the absence of tax payment,

it was, prima facie, found that thecounterfeit/non duty paid ciga-rettes were unlawfully stored inthe godowns. Under the provi-sions of tax laws, the FBR teamseized 1.8 million sticks of Mel-burn, 350,000 of Chance, 80,000

of Red Classic, 60,000 ofOlympic, 49,000 of Gold Street,80,000 of Classic, 24,000 ofKisan and 10,000 sticks of Herobrand.According to preliminary in-

quiry report, different brands aremanufactured by three differentcompanies and tentativeduty/taxes of seized goods arestanding in the range of Rs 1.9million.


FBR to establish Help Line to catchillegal cigarette makers


FBR team seized 1.8 millionsticks of Melburn, 350,000of Chance, 80,000 of Red

Classic, 60,000 of Olympic,49,000 of Gold street,

80,000 of Classic, 24,000 ofKisan and 10,000 sticks of

Hero brand

The Importers and Trans-porters of Goods Associa-tion (TGA), Karachi, has

expressed deep concern over in-adequate security in and aroundPakistan International ContainerTerminal (PICT) and Karachi In-ternational Container Terminal(KICT), where thousands of con-tainers are off-loaded on regularbasis and around 6000 to 7000

vehicles set off daily along withgoods.Khursheed Alam, Vice Presi-

dent Transporters of Goods As-sociation told Customs Todaythat the transporters wereamong the front-line sufferers ina deteriorating law and order sit-uation, as their loaded vehicleswere looted at gun-point.He said District West was

the worst among all five dis-tricts where the law and order

situation was badly affectedand looting of the loaded vehi-cles at gun-point had become acommon phenomenon. “Ourdozens of loaded trucks havebeen looted by armed menfrom East and West wharfs dueto inadequate security”, headded.Alam alleged that police was

patronising the criminal ele-ments, as the transporters hadregistered several complaints

against looting incidents of theirvehicles but no action had yetbeen taken.“We have also made written

complaints to the police high-ups including Inspector Generalof Police (IGP) and Deputy In-spector General of Police (DIGP)but they have also not taken anystep to beef up the security ofEast and West wharfs.” He al-leged that the Jackson andDocks police officials were also

involved in patronising the crim-inal elements.One of the importers, Fareed

Awan, told this scribe that hehad suffered a loss of Rs 2 mil-lion as his two rice-laden truckshad been looted at gun-point inSITE-B area.“I have registered a com-

plaint in the concerned policestation but no action has beentaken to recover the lootedgoods”, he added.

importers, transporters face security issuescUSToMS ToDAY REpoRTwww.customstoday.com.pk

LAHORe12

crying child alerts customs officers to human smuggling attemptNEW YORK: US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers arrested 34-year-old Mayra Rodriguez-Saenz on Friday.Court records released Thursday show that Rodriguez-Saenz was with a 3-year-old boy who was crying and refused to getclose to her. Customs officers learned that the boy was an illegal immigrant from Oaxaca and that Rodriguez-Saenz wassupposed to get paid $800 dollars to take him to Houston.


The Customs House NabhaRoad, a four-storey build-ing and hub of all customs

related activities, has been given anew face lift by renovation workdone by NESPAK.NESPAK A&P Division Lahore

completed renovation of the Cus-toms House Nabha Road, havingcovered area of 9,006 sqm. Therenovation work included docu-mentation and assessment of theexisting building, detailed design,tender documentation and con-struction of this Rs 189 millionproject, awarded by the FederalBoard of Revenue, Islamabad.According to NESPAK, the inte-

rior spaceswere planned keeping inview the structural constraints ofthe building. False ceilingswere de-signed to cater to air-conditioningand lighting needs. Most modernand easy to maintain finishes wereproposed in the interior spaces. Theexternal facade was given a con-temporary face lift by adding struc-tural features like parapets and en-trance porticos. The site planningwas done keeping in view the loca-tion of existing trees and stormwa-ter drainage issues. Parking shedswere also designed for cars andmo-torcycles. The Customs HouseNabha Road is administrating theworking of its subordinate officesat the Allama Iqbal InternationalAirport,Wagha Border, Dry Port atBaghbanpura and Thokar NiazBaig. The major departments op-erating at the Customs House in-clude Collector of Customs, ModelCustoms Collectorate, Appraise-ment, Preventive, Collector of Ap-peal, Directorate of Post ClearanceAudit (PCA) and Adjudication.All of the departments work un-

der the CustomsAct 1969. Collector

of Customs collects customs duties,Appraisement assesses customs du-ties, Preventive looks after importand export traffic at airport and dryports, Collectorate of Appeals en-tertains high profile caseswhich arechallenged within three months,PCA conducts internal audit whileadjudication deals with goods and

articles including confiscated non-duty paid vehicles.The Lahore Customs House is

run by a Chief Collector along witha collector, an additional collector,deputy collectors, assistant collec-tors, superintendents, deputy su-perintendents, inspectors, hawal-dars, constables, peons and

sweepers.As many as 250 to 300 staff is

working at the Customs House tocontrol operations of its sub-officesincluding airport, dry ports in La-hore while Faisalabad and Multanhave nothing to dowith the LahoreCustoms House, however, bothFaislabad and Multan customs of-

fices report to the Chief Collector inLahore. The lower staff includingdrivers, peons and constables arefacing problem of residence.“We spend a big part of our

salaries on rented houses and it be-comes impossible for us to dis-charge our other obligations in ameager income paid by the govern-ment. The government should es-tablish housing colonies for thelower staff like the one for the offi-cers,” a customs constable said.The Customs House Nabha

Road is located in an old build-ing. The construction of the Cus-toms House was started in 1958and the building was inauguratedby the then Collector Ejaz ElahiMalik in 1961.The Customs House has im-

mense importance as it adds a bigchunk of revenue to the nationalexchequer by collecting customsduties. The building due to exten-sive wears and tears had lost itsgrandeur. The renovation work ofthe Lahore Customs House build-ing was completed during the firstmonth of the current year and in-augurated by former FBR Chair-man and Secretary Revenue Divi-sion Ali Arshad Hakeem.

M Hayatwww.customstoday.com.pk

customs House Nabha Road gets a face-liftWith a staff of 250 to 300, the Customs House controls operations of its sub-offices including airport, dry ports in Lahore

NeWs 13

Massive fall in rupeevalue against US dol-lar during the last fis-

cal year 2012-13 increased the im-ports value in term of rupees andgrowth on imported items duringthe last fiscal year by 0.19 percent.As per data gathered from the Pak-istan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), theimports of the country were $41 bil-lion during last 11 months of the fis-cal year 2012-13 against $40.93 bil-lion during the same period of thefiscal year 2011-12.The imports recorded by Cus-

toms authorities grew by 12.43percent to Rs4474.45 billion dur-ing the last fiscal year from

Rs3979.682 bil-lion in the pre-ceding fiscalyear. The du-tiable importeditems wererecorded atRs1750.238 bil-lion last year

against Rs1629.18 billion during2011-12.The authorities in the Customs

Department said the slow pace induty collection by Customs wasdue to tariff rationalisation in thelast Federal Budget under whichthe government reduced tariff onimport of various products. Be-sides, the oil product, whichbrings the major portion of rev-enue for the FBR, also failed toshow nominal growth during the

last fiscal year.The ease in flow of dutiable

items and measures announcedin the last budget in indirect taxesmassively impacted the growth ofsales tax revenue.The collection of sales tax by

Customs registered negativegrowth of 0.82 percent toRs376.944 billion during fiscalyear 2012-13 against Rs380.072billion during fiscal year 2011-12.The income tax, however,

posted 22.5 percent growth toRs102.554 billion last year fromRs83.716 billion during fiscal year2011-12. The growth in income taxmainly drives from enhancementof rate on import of various prod-ucts and rationalisation of advancetax. The measures taken at the be-ginning of current year also sup-ported the revenue efforts.



whole-car airfreighting services open at Beijing AirportBEIJING: The whole-car import station at Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA) is expected to begin operationin July, making the capital the first import port for airfreighted finished vehicles in China. Transnational companies,embassies, auto distributors and high-end consumers can now take care of the customs' procedures for imported wholecars in the city, Zhao Weizhen, director of the Clearance and Supervision Division of Beijing Customs, said.

Fall in rupeevalue increasesimport bill by

0.19pcThe income tax, however, posted 22.5 percent growth to Rs102.554billion last year from Rs83.716 billion during Qscal year 2011-12.The growth in income tax mainly drives from enhancement

Asmany as 26 officials working asData Control Assistants (DCAs) forlast 30 years in the office of the

Chief Coordinator, Computerisation andProgramming Department, CustomHouse Karachi are waiting for their pro-motions from BPS-10 to BPS-16.DCAs in the Custom House Karachi

have expressed deep anxiety while talk-ing to Customs Today over the non-compliance of the orders issued by theFederal Service Tribunal (FST), Islam-abad on Jan 1, 2013, in which it statedthat the promotions of 26DCAs are duefrom BPS-10 to BPS-16.The DCAs told this scribe that they

submitted the case for their promotionsin the year 2010 in the FST and the FSTproceeded their case and issued its de-tailed judgment on Jan 1, 2013, inwhich it asked the department con-cerned to upgrade the posts of thoseData Control Assistants (BPS-10) toData Processing Assistants (BPS-16).

However, after passing sevenmonths tothe judgment, theDCAs are still waitingfor their promotions.TheDCAs further informed that they

had been recruited in 1979, 1982 and1986 in the Computer Bureau Depart-ment, Custom House Karachi. How-ever, those who were appointed later,they had been promoted to BPS-14 andthen BPS-16 on the basis of nepotism.“We all are experienced and edu-

cated and meet with every criteria ofthe promotion, but the authorities con-cerned do not pay any heed towardsour issues”, they maintained.“We have prayed for the promotions

fromData Control Assistants (BPS-10)to Data Processing Assistants (BPS-16)before the FST, but the negligence ofthe authorities concerned is amatter ofanxiety for us”, they added.They said that in this delaying

process, Javed Iqbal Siddiqui (BA), aDCA died due to heart attack in May2013. They demanded of the authoritiesconcerned to take notice in the delay ofthe promotion process.

DcAs waiting fortheir promotiondespite FST orders



Bid to smuggle forged visas foiledDUBAI: Dubai Customs has foiled an attempt to smuggle forged stamps, documents and entry visas to EU and Latincountries. According to a senior official, the Asian passenger tried to bribe the two inspectors who nabbed him at theDubai International Airport. Director of the Airport Operations Department at Dubai Customs Ali Al Mugahwi, said theforged documents and items seized were extracted from his bags. “These included stamps bearing the EU emblem, stick-ers and entry visas.”

iNTeRVieW

Commercial importers payingup to 37 percent incidenceof taxes on rawmaterials are

mostly out of business because theycannot compete with imports undermultiple tax and tariff regimes andsmuggledmaterials, resulting in lossof substantial amount of revenue,saidMuhammadHaroon Agar, Pres-ident Karachi Chamber of Commerceand Industry (KCCI) in an exclusiveinterview with Customs Today.The KCCI has always pleaded

that rate of income tax, GST andCustomsduty on industrial rawma-terials should be rationalised to en-hance competitiveness of industryand curtail smuggling.He said that the Federal Board of

Revenue has been investedwith ab-solute powerswhich are not feasiblefor flourishing business, trade and

industrial activities.At the moment, cost of doing

business in Pakistan is the highestin the region on the back of highrates of income tax,WHTandGen-eral Sales Tax, high tariff on importof raw materials for the industryand shortage and high cost of elec-tricity and gas etc.In a recentmeetingwith Federal

FinanceMinister IshaqDar we hadpointed out that the FBR has man-aged to strengthen bureaucraticcontrol over Customs which mayhave serious fallout effects on trade

and industry and revenue if thethings were not handled in accor-dancewith the suggestionsmade bythe private sector for the recentlyannounced budget, as the FBR hadsucceeded in convincing the Min-istry of Finance for giving ashape to the customs dealing in ac-cordance with their whimsand wishes whichmay not be fruit-

ful for the economy, he remarked.The Finance Minister had, how-

ever, agreed to our point of viewandpromised to meet the traders andindustrialists soon after his return

from China and Saudi Arabia, Ha-roon said.The Karachi Chamber of Com-

merce and Industry has also invitedsuggestions regarding difficultiesfaced by themat customs stage, anda grandmeeting of all the chambersacross the country would be held todevelop consensus on burning is-sues, problems and grievances, and

the KCCI is confident that thesegrievanceswould be resolved in thelarger interest of the national econ-omy, he added. He said the meas-ures taken in the budget on the ad-

vice of the FBRwould create a num-ber of hurdles in the way of doingbusiness and it is feared that thesemeasures delegating absolute pow-ers to the FBR officials may open afloodgate of corruption and bribery.The measures regarding cus-

toms taken in the budget would nothelp generate revenues as moneywould only pack the pockets of the

corrupt. He regretted the FBR gotapproved two decades old meas-ures, giving an impression that in-stead of moving ahead we have re-turned to the past.

37pc tax burden on imports to harmbusiness activities: President KCCi

AMANUllAH kHANwww.customstoday.com.pk

The measures taken in the budget on the advice of the FBR would create anumber of hurdles in the way of doing business and it is feared that thesemeasures delegating absolute powers to the FBR officials may open aOoodgate of corruption and bribery

cost of doing business in pakistan is highest in the region on the back of high rates of income tax, wHT and general Sales Tax

introducing Dulux Easyclean with Colourguard, now improved with Tough Mineral Technology.The enhanced formula locks in colours for a tougher and resilient surface, so cleaning walls are easierwithout damaging the paint.

TM

NeWs 15

Saudi customs posts $6b income in 2012RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Customs Department has posted revenue of SR22.25 billion for 2012, 13.5 per cent more thatof 2011, a report said. Tariff exemption on imported products amounted to SR 6.4 billion in 2012, according to thereport in Arab News. Saudi Arabia imported goods worth SR587.8 billion last year, as against SR495.5 billion in theprevious year, marking a rise of 19pc, the report quoted the annual report of the Customs Department as saying.

Muhammad Yahya,Chief Collector (En-forcement South

Karachi) Customs, while highlight-ing the contribution of the PakistanCustoms in its core job of facilitat-ing the imports and exports as wellas revenue collection, has said thatfigures always speak louder thanwords which is reflected not only inmeeting the target given by thegovernment but collecting Rs3.5billion more to reach Rs239-240billion mark at the end of the fi-nancial year 2012-13.Talking to Customs Today in

an exclusive interview, the ChiefCollector while responding to aquestion said that improving re-

lations between the governmentand the private sector would cer-tainly help generate economic ac-tivity and its spill-over would au-tomatically benefit both theprivate sector and the commonman.The economic agenda of the

present government focusesmore on facilitating businessesin the country, giving a stronghope that the time has come foreconomic uplift of the country.When asked to comment on

socio-economic impact of theGwadar Port and role of the Cus-toms Department, once thisstrategic port becomes fully op-erational, the Customs Chieftook a pause to recollect histhoughts and said that it is des-tined to give an edge to Pakistanin the region.Although the responsibilities

of Customs would be increasedtremendously but hopefully Cus-toms workforce, which is well-equipped and updated due toregular training, is quite capableto deliver.As a transitional port, the role

of the Gwadar Port would beunique in many dimensions.The historical agreements

signed between China and Pak-istan in the wake of the visit ofPrime Minister Nawaz Sharif arebound to change the economicscenario with the development oflogistics infrastructure such asconstruction of road and rail linkbetween Pakistan and Kashgar.This historic project would re-duce the travelling time to only24-30 hours for Chinese goodsfrom the Gwadar Port which cur-rently takes a week from its portin the Eastern port.

Since tremendous industrialdevelopment taking place in theWestern part of China close toPakistan, it will certainly makethe Gwadar Port as one of thebusiest ports in the region.He was confident that this port

is going to be a game changer forthe economic future of the re-gion.When invited his attention to-

wards the recently announcedfederal budget and its impact onthe Customs performance, Yahyasaid that there was no new tax orduty in the budget rather certainmeasures are taken to facilitateespecially the commercial im-porters for early clearance ofshipments.In this respect, instructions

have been given to various seg-ments to protect the interests ofthe importers.

Customs surpasses revenue target

gwadar port to give pakistan edge in regionThe historical agreements signed between China and Pakistan in the wake of the visit of Prime Minister Nawaz sharif are bound to change the economicscenario with the development of logistics infrastructure such as construction of road and rail link between Pakistan and Kashgar


There was no new tax or duty inthe budget rather certain

measures are taken to facilitateespecially the commercial

importers for early clearance ofshipments

The lower cadre employees in theCustom House Karachi are per-forming their duties on different

posts without medical, housing and otherbasic facilities.Sources toldCustomsToday that over

100 employees including lower divi-sional clerks (LDCs), labourers and oth-ers in the Custom House are not pro-videdwith any kind ofmedical, housingor other facilities. One of the LDCs oncondition of anonymity told CustomsToday that they had beenworking in theCustom House for last three decades,but they were not given any facility forthemselves and their families. “We areemployees of the federal government,but unfortunately we are not given anybasic facility on behalf of the govern-ment”, he added. “We spendour own in-come in case of any emergency as thegovernment and authorities concerneddo not extend healthcare facilities to thelower cadre staff of the Custom HouseKarachi”, he said. Exposing their prob-lems, the LDCs said the higher authori-ties of the CustomsDepartment had notestablished any housing scheme, partic-ularly for lower cadre employees.“We have made several demands in

this regard, but the high-ups do not payany heed towards our grievances and is-sues”, he added. The lower cadre staffdemanded of the government and au-thorities concerned in the Customs De-partment to take measures in order toredress their issues.

Customs House employees get a raw dealcUSToMS ToDAY REpoRTwww.customstoday.com.pk



Pakistan government and the internationalMonetary Fund (iMF) have agreed to sendnotices to 25,000 potential tax dodgers within

two months (July and August) of the current Qnancialyear in an exercise to broaden the tax base.

The broadening of tax base exercise has becomepart of the iMF’s bailout package under whichPakistan will get $5.3 billion with 36 monthsextended Fund Facility (eFF). When contacted, TariqBajwa, Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) saidtax machinery would send tax notices to 100,000potential dodgers in the current Qscal year in a bid tobroaden the tax base.

“For broadening the tax base (BTB), the FBR willsend tax notices to 10,000 potential tax dodgersduring the ongoing month and another 15,000 inAugust 2013,” the official sources said. The FBR’steam informed the iMF mission that tax machinerywould target one million potential tax dodgers innext three years under ambitious BTB plan.

However, the FBR has not yet identiQed Qrst batchof 10,000 potential tax dodgers who will be sentnotices in the ongoing month. so far, the FBR hasdecided to appoint designate commissioners in all 18Regional Taxpayer Offices (RTOs) across the country toextensively broaden the tax base in the currentQnancial year.

Notices to be sent to25,000 potential tax dodgersin two months

1616

Iran oil ministry to launch 2nd customs officeTEHRAN: The second exclusive oil customs office will become operational in the next four months to speed up the clearance ofoil industry goods, OilMinistry officials said. Sadri Afqah, the head of Kala NaftManufacturing, Support and Procurement Com-pany, said the customs office will be set up in Asalouyeh after Rey Customs Office, which was established for clearance of goodsimported via land and air, while Asalouyeh Customs Office will only deal with sea imports, Fars News Agency reported.


With the change of gov-ernment, not onlyfaces of economic

managers of the country changedbut officers in grade 18 and abovehave also been reshuffled. Aftertaking over the new Chairman FBRhas started restructuring of FBRin a big way following the shake-up, NisarMuhammad, a BS-21 Of-ficer, has been appointed asMem-ber Customs.It would not be out of place to

mention here that Nisar Muham-mad, a senior officer of PakistanCustoms Service has previouslyserved in various key positionsacross the country. His last postingwas Member Strategic PlanningReforms & Statistics. He has gothis MBA from Quaid-i-Azam Uni-versity, Islamabad andM.Sc. inDe-fence & Strategic Studies fromNa-tional Defence University,Islamabad. He has vast experiencein his field as he had attendedmany seminars/workshops abroadrelating to tax administration andreforms.It is to be noted that Pakistan

Customs is the guardian of Pak-istan borders against movement ofcontraband goods and is facilitatorof bona fide trade. It provides amajor source of revenue to the gov-ernment of Pakistan in the form oftaxes levied on the goods tradedacross the borders. It also helps toprotect the domestic industry, dis-courage consumption of luxurygoods and stimulate development.On the other hand, newly-ap-

pointed Federal Board of Revenue(FBR) Chairman Tariq Bajwa hasfinally formed his team includingNisar Ahmed Khan as MemberCustoms and Muhammad AsharfKhan as Member Inland RevenueOperations for achieving the gi-

gantic task of collecting Rs 2,491billion revenue, the target set forfiscal year 2013-14 is about 26 per-cent higher than the collection oflast fiscal year.The FBR recently issued two of-

fice orders notifying the postingsand transfers of grade 20 andgrade 21 officers of IRS and Pak-istan Customs Services.FBR officials said that it was

right time to announce the post-ings/transfers for formulating rev-enue collection policy for the en-tire year. They also said that theteam chosen by the FBR chairmanincluded best officers in both thegroups, who are able to achievethe revenue target in difficult eco-nomic situation. It is though de-pressing but a hard fact that cash-starved Pakistan has no option butto take steps to increase revenuecollection for reducing its fiscaldeficit. The fiscal deficit haswidened to about nine percent ofthe GDP in the last fiscal year.The postings/transfers of fol-

lowing officers of Grade 20/21 incustoms group notified. The offi-cers included:– Nisar Muhammad Khan

(Pakistan Customs Service/BS-21) transferred and posted asMember (Customs), FederalBoard of Revenue (Hq), Islam-abad from the post of Member(SPR&S), Federal Board of Rev-enue (Hq), Islamabad.– Muhammad Riaz (Pakistan

Customs Service/BS-21) trans-ferred and posted as Director Gen-eral, Directorate General of Intel-ligence & Investigation,FBR,Islamabad from the post of Mem-ber (Customs), Federal Board ofRevenue (Hq), Islamabad– Khalid Mahmood-II (Pak-

istan Customs Service/BS-21)transferred and posted as Mem-ber, Federal Board of Revenue(Hq), Islamabad from the post ofDirector General, DirectorateGeneral of Intelligence & Investi-gation, FBR, Islamabad.

– Muhammad Yahya (PakistanCustoms Service/BS-21) trans-ferred as Chief Collector, Enforce-ment (South), Karachi from thepost of Chief Collector, Appraise-ment (South) , Karachi.– Nasir Masroor Ahmad (Pak-

istan Customs Service/BS-21)transferred as Chief Collector, Ap-praisement (South), Karachi fromthe post of Member, FederalBoard of Revenue (Hq), Islam-abad.– Ms. Riffat A. Hassan Abidi

(Pakistan Customs Service/BS-20) transferred as Chief, FederalBoard of Revenue (Hq), Islam-abad from the post of Chief Col-lector, (OPS) Enforcement(South), Karachi.– Fazal Yazdani Khan (Pakistan

Customs Service/BS-20) trans-

ferred and posted as Collector,Model Customs Collectorate ofPreventive, Karachi from the postof Chief, Federal Board of Revenue(Hq), Islamabad.– Abdul Rashid Sheikh (Pak-

istan Customs Service/BS-20)transferred as Collector, MCC, Ap-praisement (East), Karachi from

the post of Collector, Model Cus-toms Collectorate of Preventive,Karachi.– Amer Ahmad (Pakistan Cus-

toms Service/BS-20) transferredas Director, Directorate of InternalAudit (Customs), Karachi from thepost of Collector, Model CustomsCollectorate of Appraisement(East), Karachi.– Dr. Zulfiqar Ahmad Malik

(Pakistan Customs Service/BS-20) transferred as Director, Direc-torate of Post Clearance Audit,Karachi from the post of Collec-tor, Model Customs Collectorateof Appraisement (West), Karachi.– Muhammad Saleem (Pak-

istan Customs Service/BS-20)transferred as Collector, ModelCustoms Collectorate of Appraise-ment (West), Karachi from the

post of Director, Directorate Gen-eral of Intelligence & Investiga-tion, FBR, Islamabad.Through another notification

the FBR announced posting andtransfers of following officers:– Ms. Musarrat Jabeen (Pak-

istan Customs Service/BS-21)transferred as Member, (HRM)

Federal Board of Revenue (Hq),Islamabad from the post of Mem-ber (Taxpayers Audit), FederalBoard of Revenue (Hq), Islam-abad– Ms. Yasmin Saud (Inland

Revenue Service/BS-21) trans-ferred as Chief Commissioner In-land Revenue Large TaxpayersUnit, Karachi from the post ofChief Commissioner Inland Rev-enue, Regional Tax Office,Karachi.– Aftab Anwar Baloch (Pak-

istan Customs Service/BS-21)transferred as Member, (Enforce-ment) Federal Board of Revenue(Hq), Islamabad from the post ofMember, Federal Board of Rev-enue (Hq), Islamabad.– Shahid Hussain Asad (Inland

Revenue Service/BS-21) trans-ferred as Member, (IR Policy)Federal Board of Revenue (Hq),Islamabad from the post of Mem-ber, Federal Board of Revenue(Hq), Islamabad.–Mustafa Ashraf Tabassum (In-

land Revenue Service/BS-21)transferred as Chief CommissionerInland Revenue Large TaxpayersUnit, Lahore from the post of ChiefCommissioner Inland Revenue,Regional Tax Office-II, Lahore.– Muhammad Raza Baqir (In-

land Revenue Service/BS-21)transferred as Member, FederalBoard of Revenue (Hq), Islam-abad from the post of Member (IROperations), Federal Board ofRevenue (Hq), Islamabad.–Muhammad Ashraf Khan (In-

landRevenue Service/BS-21) trans-ferred asMember, (IR Operations)Federal Board of Revenue (HQ), Is-lamabad from the post of ChiefCommissioner Inland Revenue,Large Taxpayers Unit, Lahore.– Shahid Anwar Khan (Inland

Revenue Service/BS-21) trans-ferred as Member, Federal Boardof Revenue (HQ), Islamabad fromthe post of Chief Commissioner In-land Revenue, Large TaxpayersUnit, Islamabad.

Nisar becomes new Member customs

Large scale reshufflein FBR as Bajwa eyes

for current Qscal yearRs 2,491 billion target

FAIZA ISRAR ANDSYED MoHAMMAD TAHIRwww.customstoday.com.pk

Nisar Muhammad Khan, Member Customs, leaQng through pages of Customs Today.—An Exclusive Customs Today photo

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

july 23 issue

Documents

mr tariq bajwa

public policyformulation

public servant

public service spanning

mega sales taxfraud

customs intelligence

directorate general

theperformance of fbr