The government of Pakistan has introduced a foolproof reconciliation procedure to confirm transit of US cargo to Afghanistan through the land route of Pakistan. According to the procedure issued by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) here on Saturday, the concerned In-charge Assistant or Deputy Collector of Customs of the port of entry shall send the details of all the cargo by 5th of each month, relating to the clearances during the preceding month, to the Assistant or Deputy Collector Customs at the port of exit for reconciliation.
The exit Collectorate shall confirm the crossing of the border or otherwise of the transit goods to the clearance Collectorate by 15th of each month. The details are to be maintained by both the Collectorates. The Collectorates concerned shall also evolve and to ensure a procedure in a manner that flawless account is possible in relation to containers moving to and from Afghanistan and audit thereof is possible at a short notice. The Additional Collector and the Deputy or Assistant Collector concerned shall personally ensure the aforesaid account, without fail, in accordance with the laid down schedule.
Each Collectorate shall maintain an incident register or 'Roznamcha' with the Additional Collector concerned, as prescribed in the Preventive Service Manual, to record all incidents and events as deemed appropriate by the Customs authorities, the FBR maintained.
The FBR further elaborated that the empty containers may be returned from Afghanistan on the request of US ODRP, subject to the compliance of the procedure prescribed for movement of inland containers. The vehicles returning with empty containers shall file an IGM under section 45 of the Customs Act, 1969.
This document shall serve as Customs clearance document as well as a record of returning containers in the Customs computerised system. In cases where authorisation for transit has been refused or cancelled or superseded, the US cargo, on receipt of an application from the focal person of US or the authorised agent, shall be allowed to be re-exported in accordance with section 138 of the Customs Act, 1969, the FBR added.