The Government of Pakistan (GoP) is working to reach an agreement with China, under which Beijing will provide export price list of articles to Islamabad, which will help address the issue of under-invoicing, that is hitting the local market hard in Pakistan. "The Chinese goods are far cheaper than the local ones due to which they are in heavy demand in our country," said Lahore Customs Collector Mehboob Saqib Khan while talking to Business Recorder here on Saturday.
The customs department has detected cases of under-invoicing of articles being imported from China to Pakistan, which is harming the local industry, he said, adding "after the proposed agreement is reached between the two countries, this issue will be easily overcome. Because of this agreement, check and balance system will improve, while the local industry will also be protected to a large extent".
As far as the issue of smuggling is concerned, it is because of Afghan Transit Trade (ATT), and it could not be overcome fully. However, the CBR has decided to control it through fiscal measures ie by "curtailing duties", he said.
"The CBR is of the firm view that this problem could be addressed only through tariffs", he pointed out. This experiment has remained very successful in case of reducing duty on import of tyres and tea. This has not only discouraged smuggling of tyres and tea, but also enhanced the government revenue under the head of customs duty, he claimed.
Moreover, in order to control smuggling, the CBR has installed Chinese container scanners at Port Qasim, while eight more such scanners will be installed at other places with the co-operation of the National Logistic Cell (NLC), he stated.
To a question about the newly introduced automated system of clearance of goods ie "CARE", Mehboob Saqib Khan said initially, it has been started at the Karachi International Container Terminal on experimental basis, which will be extended later to other stations. Because of this fully automated system, the clearance time has shrunk to only one day from five to six days, he claimed.
This system will also be introduced in Lahore and other stations, but it depends on the success of this system in Karachi. "As the system is new in Pakistan, therefore, weaknesses are also showing up, which are being monitored and hopefully all such problems will be overcome with the passage of time, he said.
After Karachi, he said this system would be introduced in Lahore, hopefully in the first quarter of 2005-06, which is going to be the second major import station after Karachi.
About his collectorate's revenue performance, Mehboob Saqib Khan said the 11-month revenue of the collectorate comes to Rs 12 billion as against the target of Rs 13 billion for the current fiscal year compared with Rs 11.5 billion of the previous year.
About issuance of rebate and refunds, the collector said that the collectorate gave Rs 641 million in rebate in 11 months of the current year, as against Rs 803 million in corresponding months last year.
Likewise, the figure of refund comes to Rs 171 million as against 19 million of corresponding period last financial year.
About fate of confiscated vehicles, Mehboob Saqib Khan said out of total 300 cases, 285 have been cleared through alternate dispute resolution committee, which, apart from customs duty, also imposed 50 percent fine on such vehicles. Those, who will opt for this scheme during this month, will also be given 25 percent rebate in NLC rental charges, he pointed out. Moreover, he said that in 11 months, the collectorate also auctioned 35 vehicles.
About seizure of narcotics, he said such drugs are destroyed, adding, "in the month of July, five tons of hashish will be put on fire and for this all the formalities have been completed and NOC has been obtained from the customs judge".
"We have also in our godowns a huge quantity of tea, confiscated from time to time from outlaws. The date of consumption of this tea has expired, therefore, it needs to be destroyed, he added.
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