Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday directed the initiation of action against tax defaulters and evaders on an emergency basis.

The prime minister directed the constitution of a committee to identify the hurdles and responsibilities in the track and trace system. The committee would identify the hurdles and people involved in tax theft within seven days.

The prime minister chaired a meeting regarding the implementation of the track and trace System in Islamabad, PM Office Media Wing said in a press release.

The committee would be tasked to submit future proposals on the enforcement of automatic tax systems in factories and industries.

The meeting was attended by federal ministers including Muhammad Aurangzeb, Ahad Khan Cheema, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Jehanzaib Khan, Chairman FBR Malik Amjad Zubair Tiwana and other senior officials.

The prime minister questioned as to why the system was still inactive.

He observed that this system should have been made functional in the tobacco, sugar, cement and fertilizer industries in the last two years, adding that the system should be placed in other important sectors of the economy.

He said that all the legal impediments in the enforcement of the track and trace system should be removed.

The prime minister directed that the system should be enforced at all the production lines of cement factories, besides he summoned a comprehensive plan for digital strategy and an automated track and trace system.

He further directed that all those factories that resisted the implementation of the track and trace system should be immediately sealed.

He opined that besides revenues, the said system could also be utilized for counterfeit and substandard products.

Traders welcome registration of shopkeepers’ scheme

The prime minister asked for an end to fake and unregistered cigarettes and their destruction.

The country was facing economic issues and the mafia with their connivance had been inflicting damages to the national kitty, he added.

The prime minister also asked for help from international institutions in the track and trace system.

The meeting was apprised in detail about the hurdles in the automated enactment of the track and trace system in the cement, sugar, fertilizer, and tobacco sectors.

The meeting was told that in 14 tobacco factories, the system was fully functional whereas 12 others had been sealed for non-compliance.

The system was fully functional in the fertilizer industry while it was facing problems in sugar and cement factories due to some technical issues that were being addressed.

The meeting was further apprised that raids were being conducted on godowns throughout the country to control the smuggling.

The prime minister directed that the law enforcement agencies should assist FBR.