One-man Commission on ''smuggling of arms and ammunition'' has strongly recommended that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) should stop accepting Goods Declarations (GDs) with incomplete information in the relevant columns or vague descriptions for clearance of imported consignments to check massive revenue leakage at import stage.
Sources told Business Recorder here on Monday that the former FBR Member Customs, Ramzan Bhatti in its fact-finding report has made recommendations to curb revenue leakage during clearance of imported consignments at ports. According to sources, it is noted that GDs with incomplete information in the relevant columns or with vague descriptions are being accepted by the system for further processing. This practice need to be stopped because it results in revenue leakages in most of the cases.
The computerised data remains non-representative of the true declarations. The importers can get away with mis-declarations and understatement of value. It is, therefore, recommended that the description column in the GD may be extended to maximum of twelve digits and the importers/Custom agents shall be made responsible to declare the goods with the exact specifications (structured description) under the appropriate Pakistan Customs Tariff (PCT) Heading. For this purpose the data of previous imports could be utilised to codify the description of each item under a separate sub-heading.
The commission has proposed that the present system of review by the Assistant/Deputy Collector or rejecting the recommendations of the assessing officer for detailed examination of suspected bills of entry/GD be done away with. This provides an opportunity for direct negotiations between new and inexperienced officers and the unscrupulous importers/agents which opens the opportunities for settlement with gains to both parties at the cost of national exchequer. Instead, all GDs categorised as suspected by the system should be examined by a committee of at least two members; one Additional Collector and the other Assistant/Deputy Collector either by meeting or on rotation basis for finalising whether the GD shall be sent for detailed examination.
A few young officers have already suffered when they rejected the recommendations for detailed examination and the container loads of mis-declared goods were seized by the Directorate of Customs intelligence. It is also proposed that all referred and low taxed containers with 0-5 percent cumulative incidence be allowed clearance after scanning and preserving the images through a fourth category of clearance lane, ie, "blue or scan only lane," sources referred to the commission''s report.
It has been found by the Commission that the Operators of Qasim International Container Terminal (QICT) have not only installed a good quality scanner but have also covered the places specified for loading, unloading, examination and stacking along with gates etc. through the CCTV Cameras. QICT also preserves the images of man and material involved in the removal of goods/containers inside and outside their territorial jurisdictions. It is proposed that all other such stakeholders/terminal operators be obliged to install scanners and CCTV Cameras on pattern of QICT. They should also be made responsible to provide the images of man and material involved in the clandestine removal/replacement of high tariff items with low tariff items to squander the legitimate public revenues, sources said.
It is also proposed that the containers moved from one wharf/terminal/station to other wharf/terminal/station be sealed with RFID seals properly connected and controlled by the officers sitting in a specially built control room. These seals not only provide for data storage but can be helpful in distance (up 6m) detection through the sensors installed along the roadside or held by the Customs Staff besides generating alarms on de-tracked or opened up containers/trucks/trailers. The commission has proposed that the security of computerised data be enhanced by providing that the computer maintains the record of log-in, log-out and mining, transferring and printing of the data by any user, sources quoted commission report.
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