International Customs Day: Message From Syed Muhammad Tariq Huda Member (Customs-Operations)

TEXT: Today, I stand proud to be the head of Pakistan Customs Administration on this auspicious International Customs Day. As the head of the critically important organization, I am cognizant of the heavy responsibility that the country in particular and international community in general, has laid in the office which I occupy to come up to the challenges facing us.

I am very pleased to inform that Pakistan Customs has been up to the task in performing its traditional role of collecting revenue whereby 44% of total tax revenue has been contributed by Customs. Equally if not more has been our administrative success in combating smuggling and illicit trade: We have already scaled historic peak of more than 30 billion of seizures of contraband and illicit goods. Partnering with the border agencies and Provincial Governments, we have been able to clean our markets from smuggled goods thereby spurring industrial growth especially textile, tyres and other industrial goods.

We are proud to have partnered with Pakistan Telecommunication Authority in introducing the DIRBS system whereby the smuggling of mobile phones has been eliminated: Pakistan has now entered into mobile manufacturing catering to a small portion of local demand and very soon we will be witnessing export of mobile phones from Pakistan.

Though much has been achieved, it is high time now that Pakistan Customs changes its direction from revenue generation agency to a pro-growth and pro-development organization supporting Pakistani industry and export through great border controls, through Trade Facilitation procedures and introduction of ICT.

I am confident that my organization will escalate its achievements even more and embrace this slogan “Integrity-Efficiency-Courtesy” as the guiding principle for the year.

I wish my administration a great International Customs Day.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021