The Central Board of Revenue (CBR) is to introduce a centralised system of filing of Goods Declaration (GDs) and payment of customs duty to facilitate the trade The system, to be launched as a pilot project, would be in place from December 1 and 15 respectively. This was stated by CBR member (Customs) Mohammad Ramzan in a meeting with Karachi Customs Agents Group (KCGA) President Farrukh Saleem Sheikh held at Port Qasim on Thursday. Port Qasim Customs Collector Amir Mohammad Khan Marwat was also present in the meeting.
Farrukh Saleem said the centralised facility of customs duty payment and the GDs filing, requested by the KCAG, would provide a great amount of facilitation to the importers as they would file the GDs at the Custom's Service Centre at Karachi Customs House for goods landed at Port Qasim.
Similarly, the customs duty would also be paid at Karachi Customs House for goods to be cleared from Port Qasim. This would save the importers and clearing agents from travelling by 45 kilometers to file the GDs or for payment of the customs duty.
The KCAG President said the centralised system of filing the GDs and payment of the customs duty would ensure swift clearance of the goods from the PQ, as all formalities would be completed at Karachi Customs House and the goods would be ready for clearance by the time the customs agents reach there.
Another concession, provided to the customs agents by the CBR member, Customs, is regarding ex-bond bill of entry (GD).
The CBR Member said the processing time for the bills of entry would be curtailed by allowing the customs agents to pay the customs duty directly without the entry being processed by the Customs Appraiser. The concession would curtail the processing of ex-bond bill of entry from the present 48 hours to only four hours, ensuring swift clearance of the goods.
The meeting was also attended by Javed Mesiya, Arif Siddiqui, Irfan Rashid, Yawar Ali, Yahya Mohammad and Wasiq Hussain from the KCAG side.