The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has announced issuance of Electronic Form-E (EFE) through Web Based One Customs (WeBOC) from Monday, November 2, 2015. In case of exports through WeBOC, Electronic Form-E has been prescribed by the State Bank, which will be generated through WeBOC. For exports other than WeBOC, manual Form-E will continue to be issued by Authorised Dealers at the request of exporters as per already prescribed instructions.
In order to streamline the issuance of Form-E, State Bank of Pakistan in collaboration with Pakistan Customs has automated the issuance. The Electronic Form-E (EFE) module in the Pakistan Customs' electronic system called WeBOC has been developed in consultation with relevant stakeholders.
At present, majority of goods exported from Pakistan are handled through WeBOC. However, a small percentage of goods such as those exported through land route or categorised as bulk cargo are currently being exported through Pakistan Customs' previous goods clearance system called 'One Customs'. Efforts are under way by Pakistan Customs to extend WeBOC system to export of such goods as well, in a phased manner throughout Pakistan.
Right now, Form-E is issued manually by Authorised Dealers. However, with effect from November 2, 2015, Form-E will be issued in two formats, ie, Electronic Form-E (EFE) and Manual Form-E (MFE). For exports taking place through WeBOC, EFE will be issued through WeBOC. The request for EFE will be submitted electronically by exporters in WeBOC and Authorised Dealer will approve or reject EFE electronically in WeBOC.
While, for exports taking place through One Customs, Manual Form-E will be issued by Authorised Dealers on the request of exporters as per existing instructions. According to EFE regulations, registration and deletion of exporters in WeBOC shall be carried out by Pakistan Customs as per their procedure. However, Authorised Dealers shall continue to perform Customer Due Diligence (CDD)/Know Your Customer (KYC) of exporters, being their accountholders/customers, as per applicable instructions.
The Managers/Proprietor/Partners/Directors, etc, of the concerned company/firm, etc, (exporter) submitting EFE request, will be held responsible severally and jointly for repatriation of export proceeds into Pakistan. Authorised Dealers shall request for addition or deletion of their authorised branches in WeBOC through their respective Group/Business Heads to the Director, Foreign Exchange Operations Department (FEOD), State Bank of Pakistan, Banking Services Corporation (SBP-BSC), Head Office, Karachi.
Authorised Dealers shall submit request for issuance of user ID and password by providing required information to SBP, which will forward the same to Pakistan Customs. User ID and password will be issued and provided to Authorised Dealers directly by Pakistan Customs under intimation to FEOD.
For cancellation of user ID and password, Authorised Dealers shall submit cancellation request signed by their respective Group/Business Heads to SBP, which will forward the same to Pakistan Customs for necessary action. All concerned employees and Authorised Dealers shall maintain confidentiality of WeBOC user IDs and passwords. They will be responsible for any unauthorised use of their user IDs.
For issuance of Electronic Form-E, exporters will submit Form-E request electronically through WeBOC to an Authorised Dealer at a branch of choice. The Authorised Dealer/branch, as chosen by the exporter, will electronically approve or reject Form-E request. After electronic approval of Form-E by the Authorised Dealer, the exporter will attach EFE in WeBOC with Goods Declaration (GD) Form to carry out export of goods for which Form-E has been approved. The serial number of EFE for each Authorised Dealer will be generated by WeBOC.
The exporter can amend EFE before it is approved or rejected by the Authorised Dealer. Once Authorised Dealer has approved or rejected Form-E, it cannot be amended by the exporter. Authorised Dealer cannot amend EFE at any stage. However, Authorised Dealer can cancel EFE after it is submitted by the exporter and it can also cancel approved EFE before it is attached to GD Form by the exporter.
If no action is taken by Authorised Dealer on EFE request submitted by the exporter within 15 days, it will automatically expire in WeBOC. If shipment is not effected by the exporter within 45 days from date of approval of EFE by Authorised Dealer, it will automatically expire in WeBOC. Authorised Dealer shall fill in relevant sections of Bank Credit Advice (BCA) for each EFE in WeBOC, including date of lodgement of shipping documents with Authorised Dealer, acceptance received from importer's bank and realisation of export proceeds wherever documents are negotiated or collected through them.
In cases where shipping documents are not received by Authorised Dealer within 14 days from the date of shipment, Authorised Dealer shall immediately ensure that shipping documents are submitted to it by the exporter. Where an Authorised Dealer fails to obtain shipping documents from exporters within 30 days of shipment, it shall report such cases to area office of FEOD, SBP-BSC, Head Office, Karachi on a monthly basis latest by 15th of each month.
If payment is being received through an Authorised Dealer other than the one which has approved EFE, the Authorised Dealer which has approved EFE may transfer it to the Authorised Dealer negotiating or collecting export documents through bank to bank BCA transfer module in WeBOC.
Authorised Dealer will record proceeds realisation against each EFE through BCA module in WeBOC. In case of remittance received in advance for goods to be exported from Pakistan, the same may initially be recorded in remarks column of EFE while approving it and after shipment, advance payment details shall be filled in BCA module in WeBOC for each EFE. Authorised Dealer shall send a printed copy of EFE to respective area office of FEOD, SBP-BSC, Head Office, along with monthly returns in which realisation of export proceeds is reported. In case of Advance Payment, copy of EFE will be submitted with Advance Payment Voucher (APV) and shipping documents as per existing instructions. While in cases where the exporter ships a quantity less than that declared on EFE, Authorised Dealer shall negotiate/collect the shipping documents on the basis of value declared in GD Form after verification from WeBOC.
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