The Collectorate of Customs, Port Qasim, collected a record revenue of Rs 33.2 billion from duty and taxes during the first nine months (July-March) of the current fiscal year. The collection is up by 16 percent of the revenue yielded during the same period last year.
The colossal jump in revenue has been achieved through streamlining the procedures and facilitation to the importers, which resulted in the clearance of 700 containers per day this year as against 400 containers cleared by the Customs at Qasim International Container Terminals (QICT).
According to the statistics, the highest raise was witnessed in collections from the customs duty, which increased to Rs 15.1 billion as against 12.9 billion collected in the same period last year, giving an increase of 17.29 percent.
The revenue collected from sales tax during the period under review was Rs 21 billion as compared to Rs 18 billion, registering an increase of 14.5 percent.
Advance income tax on imports fetched 23 percent more revenue during this period as against the same period last year.
The CBR appreciated the performance of the collectorate and announced cash rewards for the staff for their excellent performance, which yielded a quantum jump of 70 percent in revenue, highest in any customs department, during the last two years.
The measures, taken by the collectorate for the smooth flow of imports, include introduction of a single page Goods Declaration (GD); bifurcation of the processing section equipped with computers for fast handling of import documents, separate gates for import and export cargo drastically reducing container traffic congestion at the port; permission to Pakistan Railways to utilise line-A for loading of Afghan transit cargo to clear backlog and computerisation of port gates for effective monitoring of cargo.
The Collectorate of Customs, port Qasim, was established in 1994 to facilitate the importers and to lessen the workload on the Karachi port.
Its main function is the clearance of cargo at the QICT and moving it to the off-dock terminals and to the up country dry ports as well as transported to Afghanistan under the Afghan Transit Trade Scheme (ATTS).
The main source of revenue generation of the collectorate is from the import of the RBD palm oil, soyabean oil, raw materials for soap industry, petrol and diesel and petroleum products.