KARACHI: Collectorate of Customs Appraisement (West) foils attempt at clearance of banned luxury items in two consignments worth Rs 39.6 million; detects forgery in the Bills of Lading of consignments containing “Tortilla Chips”& “Dinner Sets”, originating from the ports of Jebel Ali (UAE) & Shekou (China) respectively.

Upon verification of the documents from the concerned shipping lines as well as through online tracking, it was found that both the BLs were issued on dates later than the dates claimed on the forged BLs and the Goods Declarations filed through WeBoc system; the attempted forgery has been unearthed subsequent to the Federal Government’s recent decision communicated vide SRO 598(I)/2022 dated 19.05.2022 wherein the Federal Government has banned imports of a number of luxury items with a view to safeguard the fast depleting foreign reserves of the country.

FIRs have been lodged against the traders as well as clearing agents and further investigations are underway.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022