Pakistan has made it mandatory for the US Office of the Defence Representative-Pakistan (ODRP) to nominate a focal person for the transit of US cargo to Afghanistan, customs clearances and fulfilment of other formalities. According to the procedure issued by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) here on Saturday, the ODRP shall nominate a single focal person for transit of US cargo to and from Afghanistan for the purposes of Customs clearances and allied formalities and communicate the name, designation and specimen signature of the nominee to the Federal Board of Revenue and the clearance collectorates concerned.
In case of change or replacement of the focal person, the said US Office shall inform and provide the requisite details, including the hotline number, email address, postal address, landline, cell number and fax number of the contact person to the Board and Customs Collectorates, seven days prior to such change or replacement.
Upon arrival of a vessel or a conveyance carrying US cargo, the focal person shall file with the Customs a duly signed cargo manifest in duplicate separately detailing the information ie IGM and Index No, bill of lading No or carrier manifest No, gross weight, consignor and consignee's details, list of containers (with numbers), value and description of the cargo meant for transit to or from Afghanistan. The original cargo manifest shall be retained by Customs for clearance of the cargo and the duplicate copy shall be handed over to the focal person of US ODRP or his representative duly authorised to have documents processed by customs authorities, FBR said.
Provided that the cargo manifest may be filed in anticipation of the cargo arrival to be processed for clearance only after arrival of the vessel: Provided further that where electronic manifest is filed a manual copy shall also be filed: According to the procedure of filing of Goods Declaration (GD) of US consignments, the focal person of US ODRP shall forward request for clearance of cargo in transit to or from Afghanistan to the concerned Collector of Customs in respect of the consignment at the port of entry.
The FBR said that duly licensed Customs Agent authorised by US ODRP in this behalf shall file goods declaration (GD) electronically for transit of such goods in the prescribed format and present hard copy of the GD in quintuplicate to the appraising or appropriate officer of the relevant assessing group of the Collectorate concerned at the port of entry, along with the relevant documents including bill of lading, or carrier manifest in case of transit from Afghanistan; cargo manifest; original invoice and original packing list. Other documents included a request and undertaking from the US ODRP for clearance of the transit cargo; exemption certificate (Mafinama) of the Afghan Government; authorisation for transit issued by Pakistan's Ministry of Defence; scanned images of the containers and 100 per cent weighment certificate issued by the terminal operator.
The GD can be filed in anticipation of the arrival of the vessel or conveyance in terms of second proviso to section 79(1)(b) of the Customs Act, 1969, provided that the manifest has also been filed in advance. In case of a change or replacement of any Customs agent, the US ODRP shall certify that cargo handled by such agents has been duly reconciled, according to the procedure specified by the FBR.
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