The exports, made through the Customs Collectorate (Exports) here contributed 76 percent to the total national exports achieved by the country during 2003-04.
According to the statistics, the value of the exports made through the Collectorate during the period under review was 9.37 billion dollars as against the total national exports worth 12.3 billion dollars, registering a 15 percent jump in the exports as compared to the previous financial year.
The collectorate's contribution to the country's exports has gradually rose from 66 percent in 1999-2000 to 70 percent in 2000-01; 74 percent in 2001-02; 75 percent in 2002-03 and 76 percent in 2003-04.
The collectorate supervises the exports made through the Karachi Port, Karachi International Container Terminal (KICT), Al-Hamd International Container Terminal (AICT), Qasim International Container Terminal (QICT) and Qasim freight station at Port Qasim, besides shipments made through the Air Freight Unit (AFU) at Jinnah Terminal.
The collectorate also deals with the export business conducted through manufacturing bonds and temporary imports for re-export. The import and export activity, carried out at the Karachi Export Processing Zone (KEPZ), is also looked after by the Export Collectorate.
The collectorate paid Rs 8.39 billion in duty drawback to the exporters during 2003-04, which is 19 percent less than Rs 10.4 billion paid in the previous year.
The duty drawback rates have axis and linkage with the overall structure of customs duty and taxes paid at the import stage.
Due to decrease in rates of customs duty, there has been corresponding reduction in the payment of duty drawback.
The collectorate paid Rs 11.65 billion as duty drawback to the exporters in 1999-2000, which went up to Rs 16.18 billion in 2001-02, came drastically down to Rs 10.40 billion in 2003-04, a decline of 36 percent.
EXPORT VALUATION: The Export Collectorate plays a dual role of facilitating the exports as well as collecting and safeguarding the government revenue. All policies and Customs functions at the ports are basically meant to facilitate the genuine exporters by ensuring quick clearance of the export cargo.
The Collectorate never stopped single consignment of the export without extremely genuine reasons. However it has to monitor and check the prices and valuation aspects of the goods produced for the exports. Any small negligence might result in over-invoicing of the goods causing undue benefits obtained by the exporters in duty drawback and sales tax refund claims.
The Export Collectorate has devised a strategy of valuation by controlling the arbitrary and higher pricing trends.
Accordingly, the prices of the exports made to the high tariff countries, like USA and Europe, have been made the benchmark as their quality is invariably far more superior than the quality of identical goods, exported to non tariff countries like the Middle East and Africa etc.
The prices of the exports prevalent over the last one year have been made the basis. The exporters have accepted the new pricing and valuation mechanism. The control over the over-invoicing of the export goods would save the national exchequer million of rupees' revenue this year.