KARACHI: Karachi Customs Agents Association (KCAA) has requested the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to defer the effective date of SRO 567(1)/2022 until July 1, 2022, and review the slab of subject penalties in the upcoming budget.

In a letter sent to the chairman of FBR, the KCAA said that they had received numerous queries regarding its mechanism to ensure its true implementation under the Custom Rules 2001 and the Customs Act 1969.

It said that the traders and their agents are presently not allowed to be present at the time of de-sealing of the containers during the examination and only the custodian is performing the process of de-sealing which can increase the probability of negligence on the part of the custodian while reporting the presence of import documents accompanied with the consignment. On the other hand, the trader may suffer a heavy amount of penalty due to the inadvertence while reporting.

The letter also pointed out that the pre-defined slabs of penalties mentioned under clauses (ii) & (iii) of S. No. 1 of section 156 of the Customs Act, 1969 is inconsistent when compared to the pattern of penalties mentioned in other clauses of the said section.

Furthermore, it highlighted that only the maximum limit of the penalty is notified for the purpose of penalisation as can be seen in clause (i) of 1 or (i) of 3 or clause (i) of 5 of Section 156 which is imposed under circumstantial discretion whereas under clause (ii) & (iii) of S. No. 1 of section 156 slabs with a definite amount of penalty are given with the highest amount being carried onwards for every recurring violation. Therefore, it is proposed that a single maximum amount of penalty may be defined for imposition against the violation of rules 389 & 433(A) under clauses (ii) & (iii) of S. No 1 of Section 156 of the Customs Act, 1969 instead of different slabs of a fixed amount.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022