KARACHI: The stakeholders at dry ports Tuesday opposed the proposal of Directorate Transit Trade (DTT) to install trackers at transshipment consignments, terming it as additional financial burden of over Rs700 million approximately per annum on the trade.
During online meeting convened by the DTT, Masood Alam, convener, FPCCI standing committee on dry ports said that the cases in transshipment consignments were almost none and the decisions regarding old cases were still pending. He suggested the DTT not to implement the proposal of installing trackers at transshipment consignments.
Similarly, Aga Iftikhar, president customs clearing agents association, Lahore said that the volume of consignments at dry ports had considerably reduced and the importers were also facing hardships due to high taxation. The trade is presently not in a position to carry additional financial burden of tracker charges.
Meanwhile, Arshad Jamal, chairman All Pakistan Customs Agents Association (APCAA) said that they had taken all stakeholders on board because if the proposal to install trackers at transshipment consignments is implemented, it would create an additional financial burden of over Rs. 700 million approximately per annum on the trade.
He said that there was no doubt that the government should take measures to secure the revenues. However, the government is also responsible for providing safety, facilitation, reducing the cost of doing business, and avoiding unnecessary financial burdens on the trade.
He said that the cases registered on account of transshipments and the figures of revenue losses were considerably low hence the said proposal was nothing but an additional financial burden on the trade.
Moreover, he alleged that a lobby was active and showing eagerness to install the trackers within days however, APCAA had severe reservations over the proposal as transit trade and transshipment trade were two different things.
He said that the transit trade was a facility to transit the goods of another country, where no taxes were involved, and the importers of goods remain anonymous. However, sub-agents handle their goods to another country and in case of any robbery, any incident, or otherwise, the government has the only tool to secure revenue is insurance guarantee. So the sole purpose of installing trackers is to monitor the transit goods.
On the other hand, the transshipment trade is a transferring of goods from one customs station to another after proper goods declarations. The importers or taxpayers could be identified through profiles and they are liable to pay taxes in any circumstances, he maintained.
“Many importers, taxpayers, industries, and manufacturers are availing green channel facility on their good profiles and not involved in any criminal activities. They pay taxes to the government of Pakistan on actual values, and in any case of robbery or otherwise, they are liable to pay taxes to the government of Pakistan,” Arshad said.
The government is also putting an unnecessary heavy cost by avoiding the responsibilities of FBR departments, he opined, adding that the government has different departments for monitoring of consignments movement.
He said that the stakeholders at Lahore, Islamabad, Sialkot, Peshawar, Quetta, and other stations were reluctant to pay this extra cost of doing business and opposed the implementation of the said proposal.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Raza, Director General, DTT while talking to Business Recorder said that the proposal regarding the installation of trackers on transshipment consignments was not finalized yet as the Directorate was presently discussing the proposal with the business community and collecting their feedback. Thereafter, the Directorate will compile its recommendations in the light of the feedback and will submit it to the FBR for further action.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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