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Karachi, Thu February 1, 2018

FAISALABAD

NAEEM SHEIKH

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he Customs Collectorate recovery branch recovered Rs5.12 million in wake of differential amounts from Qive Faisalabad base companies during month of January 2018.

Recovery branch Superintendent Rana Mukhtar Ahmed said that the Faisalabad Customs has also started a survey for the recovery of taxes from tax defaulters companies.

He added that under the supervision of Collector Asif Mehmood Jah a team comprising Inspector Muhammad Ramzan Shahid, Rana Abdul Nasir, Khalid Ashraf Noor, Muhammad Asif, Mehmood Ahmed Dogar, Muhammad Afzal Awan, Tanveerul Haq, and Abdul Jabbar, also clerk Abdul Sattar has been formed.

The recovery branch Superintendent Mukhtar and said that operation has been initiated against the tax defaulters. Customs authorities issued many notices to different companies asking them

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to clear outstanding tax amount to avoid stern action. After receiving the Qinal tax notice the management of M/s Cresent Textile Mills, M/s Ali and Sameer International, M/s Al Aziz Packages, M/s A.M Knitwear and M/s Kalash Textile Mills Faisalabad a deposited the evaded amount of taxes and duties.

It is necessary to mention here that as the current Qiscal year is going to expire soon Customs Recovery authorities are using all available resources to recover outstanding amount from defaulters.

IDP performs well by generating Rs130m of extra revenue during three weeks

DG Valuation to revise valuation of sweet corn, canned pineapple & fruit

Customs Preventive seizes huge quantity of NDP tyres from Thokar Niaz Baig

Customs Export recovers Rs 13.19m from defaulter companies

‘STCE another milestone for checking proliferation of dual-use goods’

IDP received Rs130m of extra revenue againstanearmarkedproportionalrevenue | SEE pAgE 02 |

DG Customs Valuation, has decided to revise theValuation Ruling No: 856/2016 | SEE pAgE 03 |

Customs Preventive team recovered huge quantity of NDP tyres from a truck | SEE pAgE 04 |

Customs Export has recovered evaded taxes and duties amounting to Rs 13.19 m | SEE pAgE 11 |

A component of SAFE is the AEO focusing on partnership between govt | SEE pAgE 16 |

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FBR cuts 2% tax on supply of lubricating oil to OMCs Thursday, February 1, 2018

Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has slashed two percent extra amount of tax on supplies of lubricating oils made to registered oil market companies (OMCs). In a SRO 61(I)/2018, the FBR said the extra tax at two percent under Rule 58T of Sales Tax Special Procedure Rules, 2007 shall not apply on supplies of lubricating oils made to registered oil market companies and to lubricating oil market companies registered with OGRA and those made by OMCs and by lubricating oil marketing companies registered with OGRA to registered manufacturers for in-house consumption.

Islamabad Dry port performs well by generating rs130 million

ISLAMABAD

ISLAMABAD

M fAIZAN

tArIQ DErYA

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n continuation of the policy of facilitation of taxpayers and ensuring ease of doing business, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has launched Asynchronous Data eXchange, an application, that allows taxpayers and e-intermediaries to prepare the data related to sales tax returns, sales invoices, debit, and credit notes as well as withholding tax in offline mode. With the launching of this application, the taxpayers and e-intermediaries will be able to prepare sales tax invoices without having to remain connected with the Internet. Thus, the issues related to connectivity, peak load, system downtime etc will have no effect on the speed and efficiency of the data entry. This will especially facilitate data preparation of large taxpayers including DISCOs, MNCs etc. and will indirectly benefit the buyers who require input adjustment on purchases from large taxpayers, thus enhancing the efficiency of the whole supply chain. It may be noted that this is the first version of IRIS-ADX which will be further enhanced to allow offline preparation of all declarations including Income Tax Returns and Statements in the near future.

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he Margalla IDP received Rs130million of extra revenue against an earmarked proportional revenue collection target of all duties and taxes for three weeks of January FY17-18.

According to details given by Dr. Tahir Iqbal Khattak, Deputy Collector, Margallah Islamabad Dry Port (IDP), that the IDP showed very good performance under all the heads during January FY17-18. The IDP was allocated a gross revenue target of Rs603.11million under all the heads for Qirst three weeks of January FY17-18 while it earned Rs733.49million under all the heads. Deputy Collector told CT that, during Qirst three weeks of January FY17-18, the popular imports were observed as foreign origin fabric, old and new spare parts. The IDP has been focusing on the proper examination and valuations throughout the half quarter of current Fiscal Year 2017-18 and will maintain the same pace during the coming months also. Khattak told correspondent that, under the guideline of Dr. Saeen Khan Jadoon, Collector Model Customs Collectorate Islamabad, the IDP is working up to the mark and providing full facilitation to the business community.

He was optimistic while saying that the IDP will not only chase the ear-

fBr launches new app to facilitate taxpayers

marked revenue collection target for the month of January FY17-18 under all the heads but will also surpass the allocated revenue target for said period. Meanwhile, All the customs stations, working under the jurisdiction of the MCC Islamabad, received Rs18million less revenue than an assigned proportional revenue collection target of

CD for Qirst half of January FY17-18.

According to details explained by sources of the Model Customs Collectorate Islamabad that, during above said period, the Customs Sections, comprising Islamabad Dryport (IDP), Air Freight Unit (AFU), Customs Bond Section, Unaccompanied Baggage (UAB), Accompanied Baggage (AB), In-

ternational Mail OfQice (IMO) and Rebate Refund, showed a reduction of CD against an allocated proportional revenue target except IDP and UAB. During Qirst half of January FY17-18, all the stations generated Rs275.63million against an earmarked proportional target of Rs294.21million under the head of CD.

IHc relists customs cases filed by companies against fBr

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ISLAMABAD

NAEEM uLLAH tArIQ www.customsbulletin.com

he Islamabad High Court (IHC) relisted customs cases Qiled by M/s Lakson Tobacco Corporation Limited against Qield ofQice of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

A division bench of the IHC comprising of Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb heard the case and relisted for hearing along with other cases. M/s Lak-

son Tobacco Corporation Limited had named additional collector customs as respondent in the petition.

Meanwhile, another bench dated in ofQice hearing on M/S Hasas Engineering and Construction Company Private Limited’s case. The appellant had challenged the act of recovery of said amount by Commissioner Inland Revenue of Large Taxpayer’s Unit, Islamabad.

ATIR was also made respondent in the case as thetribunal had sustained departmental decision re-

garding issuance of show cause notice and demand of recovery of outstanding tax amount in head of federal excise duty. M/s Hasas Engineering and Construction Company Private Limited had prayed the court that FBR ofQice had issued a recovery notice to the company which did not hold lawful grounds.

The appellant had prayed the court to declare the act as illegal and without any lawful authority and an interim stay may be granted against recovery proceedings.

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SHC calls comments on plea seeking release of impounded vehicle KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed customs officials and counsel for the petitioner to conclude their arguments on a constitutional petition filed by Hazrat Bilal, seeking release of his oil tanker bearing registration number KV-3825 seized by customs officials. A two-member bench, comprising Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Umer Sial, was hearing the petition. During the hearing, counsel for the customs authorities again sought time for filing para wise comments, therefore, the court granted him time and adjourned the matter.

court approves physical remand of suspects in tax evasion case

Thursday February 1, 2018

Karachi

Dg Valuation to revise valuation of sweet corn, canned pineapple & fruit

KARACHI

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ustoms Court Judge Syed Faiz Rasool Rashdi has sent two suspects, Ahmed Mirza, Head (CSD) M/S AICT, Mehdi Sherwani, Manager (CSF-Shed) M/s AICT to Customs Department on physical remand for two days. Both the suspects were booked in a mega tax evasion case.

During the hearing, investigation officer of Collectorate of Customs Appraisement West produced the suspects before the court and submitted that the customs officials recovered mobile phones, tablets and batteries from a container. The investigation officer informed the court that the accused imported mobile phones, tablets and batteries.

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Appraisement East generates rs6744m under all heads KARACHI

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he Customs Collectorate of Appraisement East has collected Rs6744.56million under the heads of customs duty, sales tax, income tax and federal exercise duty during first 15 days of January. Sources told Customs Today that the Customs Appraisement East received Rs6458million as customs duty, Rs1686million under of sales tax, Rs1578million as income tax and Rs22.56million of federal excise duty during 15 days of January. If we talk about first ten days, Customs Collectorate of Appraisement East has generated Rs6349.36million under the heads of customs duty, sales tax, income tax and federal exercise duty including Rs4125million as customs duty, Rs1248million of sales tax, Rs958million as income tax and Rs18.36million of federal excise duty during 10 days of January.

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KARACHI

wAQAr AHMED ANSArI www.customsbulletin.com

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irectorate General, Customs Valuation, Director General Surriya Ahmed Butt has decided to revise the Valuation Ruling No: 856/2016 on March 8, 2018, it is learnt.

Director General Surriya Butt has said that the department was reviewing suggestions from importers to set new prices of sweet corn, canned pineapple and fruit cocktail.

She said that some valuations, which were issued in 2015 and 2016, were being reviewed from the beginning. Moreover, the valuations will be set in view of rising prices in the international markets. Sources told that a petition was submitted by the importers to Customs Valuation in which change in prices of sweet corn, canned pineapple and fruit cocktail was requested.

Sources told the Valuation Ruling No: 856/2016 was issued on May 23, 2016. A meeting was held with the stakeholders on January 18. Importers were told to furnish the import invoices of the last three months showing factual values as well as websites, names and e-mail addresses of known foreign manufacturers of the item in question through which the actual current value could be ascertained.

Meanwhile, The Directorate General of Customs Valuation has revised the customs values of chemi-

cals, glycerin, ammonium bi carbonate, butyl acrylate, chlorinated parafQin wax (Liquid) and calcium carbide Valuation Ruling No: 1246/2017 under Section 25A of the Customs Act-1969.

Earlier, the customs values of the subject chemicals were determined vide Valuation Ruling No: 1132/2017 dated 17.04.2017.

There were several representations from commercial importers, local manufacturers and from Pakistan

Moreover, the valuations will be set in view of rising prices in the international markets. Sources told that a petition was submitted by the importers to customs Valuation in which change in prices of sweet corn, canned pineapple and fruit cocktail was requested

court seeks challan in mobile smuggling case

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KARACHI

M B rANA

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ustoms Court Judge Syed Faiz Rasool Rashdi has directed the investigation ofQicer to complete investigations and submit a Qinal charge sheet against Faisal Bin Muhammad, Sheraz Khan, Khan Bahadur and Shakeel Ahmed Khan, who were booked for attempting to smuggle more than 14,000 mobile phones etc in the garb of diplomatic

privilege. During the hearing, investigation ofQicer appeared before the court and sought further time for submitting the charge sheet, therefore, the court granted him time and directed him to Qile challan on the next date of hearing.

Earlier, investigation ofQicer had produced the above mentioned suspects before the court and informed that on a credible information, a team of Anti-Smuggling Organization intercepted a container at Chamra Chowrangi and recovered 14295

China branded mobile phones and on the enquiry of suspects, customs department also recovered 594 cartons containing 8296.24 kg auto parts from Malta Auto Spare Parts and others goods. Investigation ofQicer informed that total tentative value of goods is Rs. 65,517,661 and duty and taxes are involved Rs. 30,008,59, imported were brought into the country and claimed under mis-declaration for the port area in the garb of house hold goods under diplomatic privilege claiming admissible exemption thereof.

Chemicals and Dyes Merchants Association (PCDMA) wherein they contended that customs values determined in the existing valuation ruling are not reQlective of prices in the international markets. keeping the prevailing prices of subject goods in view, the Directorate General initiated an Nrcise for determination of the Customs Values of the subject Chemicals in terms of Section of the Customs Act-1969.

pak rupee makes recovery in open market he Pakistani rupee gained some value against the US dollar in open market and remained firm in interbank. As per the local money market, the greenback lost 10 paisas in open market for buying at 112.70 and for selling at 113. The US currency remained unchanged in interbank for buying at 110.40 and for selling at 110.60.

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LHC rejects tax notices to Shaukat Khanam Hospital Thursday February 1, 2018

Lahore

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) heard the appeal on request against notice of tax collection to Shaukat Khanam Hospital. In appeal the complainant was Challenged notice sent to Shaukat Khanam Hospital tax notice. According to the details, Justice Aisha A Malik of Lahore High Court heard the petition filed by Dr. Faisal Sultan against the Federal Government and Commissioner Inland Revenue (CIR).

The counsel for appellant argued that under the law, the trust-based institution already declared tax exempted by the government. Despite the tax exemption, the FBR has been sent to tax notice to the hospital.

fto directs counsels to conclude arguments in tax refund case LAHORE

SAJID NAwAZ

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he Federal Tax Ombudsman on Wednesday heard an appeal Qiled by M/s Al-Hamad Friends Cotton Company. The refund case was Qiled by the appellant against Regional Tax OfQice (RTO) Sargodha. The FTO called parties to conclude their arguments on the next date of hearing.

As per details, FTO Advisor Mian Munawar Ghafoor heard the case in which the counsel for the appellant argued that the RTO Sargodha has not released the refund to the appellant for the last two years.

He said that the RTO Sargodha collected excessive tax from the appellant during the last two years.

The company approached the ofQi-

rly police apprehend customs Inspector with stolen battery from container Customs Inspector was allegedly arrested by the railway police while he was stealing a battery from a container at the Mughalpura Dry Port. Sources told Customs Today that the Railway Police have apprehended Customs Inspector with a stolen battery after a proceeding of interrogation. The raid was conducted after having a complaint from an importer that some thieves are stealing batteries from the container at the Mughalpura Dry Port. On the complaint, Railway Police Station Officer orders a strict vigilance of the thieves. The railway police spotted a Customs Inspector while he was leaving home with a battery. The Customs Inspector was grilled by the railway police who was proven guilty. –CB Report

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cer concerned many times for issuance of refunds but the department did not pay the refunds after the passage of a reasonable time.

Finally, the appellant decided to approach the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO), seeking interference in this case. The counsel appealed the FTO advisor to direct the commissioner of RTO Sargodha to clear the refund claims. The counsel further said that the delay in issuance of refunds put burden on the taxpayers, adding that the RTO should make audit of the cases and release the extra amount collected by it from the taxpayer.

On the other hand, counsel for the RTO argued that the appellant has not submitted all record in the office on basis of which it is claiming for refunds. If appellant provides accurate record, the RTO will issue the refunds if any after proper assessment, he added.

customs preventive seizes huge quantity of NDp tyres from thokar LAHORE

M HAYAt

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ollectorate of Customs Preventive team recovered huge quantity of non duty paid tyres from a truck which was coming from Quetta.

Sources told Customs Today, that Collector Customs Preventive Faiz Ahmad received credible information about some smuggling attempts. He immediately constituted a raiding team comprising Superintendent Nasir Minhas, Superintendent Agha Qadeer, Superintendent Gulzar Bhatti, Inspector Saeed Randhawa. The above mentioned team established a check post near Thokar Niaz Baig and started checking of vehicles. During checking the team intercepted a truck bearing registration no: TKH-207 (Quetta) near Thokar Niaz Baig Multan Road.

The checking of truck led to recovery of 1334 car tyres, 68 tyres of HTV, parachute cloth 1700 kilogram.

The market value of seized goods is Rs7.5 million while value of truck which was being used for transportation of these goods is Rs2.5 million. When Customs Preventive team asked the driver of the vehicle

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to produce legal documents regarding possession and transportation of loaded goods, he remained failed to produce any legal documents.

Customs Preventive team after registering a case of smuggling against accused persons arrested both driver and him companion and started further investigations.

czech lady smuggler couldn’t be produced customs tribunal reserves verdicts of four cases in court due to police’s other duties he Customs Appellate Tribu- sus Customs Faisalabad. Further-

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The Investigation and Prosecution team of the Pakistan Customs on Wednesday failed to produce Czech heroin lady smuggler Tereza before the court due to other duties of the police ofQicials who were busy in dealing with Punjab University students’ clash issue and Zainab murder case.

Judicial remand of the Tereza ended on Wednesday as it was approved by the court on January 10 for 14 days.

Tereza Hluskova, 21, was trying to smuggle a nine-kilogram heroin when

she was held by the Customs at the Lahore Airport. The 21-year-old model was travelling to Ireland via Abu Dhabi from Lahore. Hluskova, who is currently detained in the Lahore jail, was to be presented before Magistrate Zafar Farid Hashmi. However customs ofQicials could only present a resident of Gujranwala who is alleged to be the woman’s facilitator. The alleged facilitator, who was remanded for another fourteen days, maintained that Tereza Hluskova was sent to the country by his brother’s friend. –CB Report

nal (single & double) bench heard 30 cases and adjourned all for different dates without those cases whose verdicts were reserved. The division bench-II, comprising Omer Arshad Hakeem, Member Judicial and Imran Tariq, Member Technical, heard 13 cases including Customs Lahore versus Kashif Azhar, Customs Lahore versus Mazakir Shah, Mubib ur Rehman versus Customs Faisalabad, Customs Lahore versus Khuram Azhar, Mubashir Abbas versus Customs Faisalabad, Safder Ali ver-

more, same bench heard cases of Customs Sambrial versus Nawabzada Haider, Muhammad Iqbal versus Customs Faisalabad, Aimna Khan versus Customs Lahore, Taj Impex versus Customs Sambrial, Maple Leaf Cement versus Customs Faisalabad and Customs Lahore versus NKF Enterprises. The single bench-I, comprising Muhammad Shabbir Gujjar, Member Judicial, heard six cases of Directorate of Intelligence and Investigation Lahore versus Syed Liaqat, Collector Customs Lahore. –CB Report

Illegal road construction: NAB issues another notice to Shehbaz

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LAHORE

cuStoMS BuLLEtIN rEport www.customsbulletin.com

he National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has issued another notice to Chief Minister Shehbaz with a direction to submit reply within a week about ‘illegal’ construction of a road leading to his and Nawaz Sharif’s residence in Jati Umra, Raiwind. Sepa-

rately, NAB has also summoned Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf central Punjab president Abdul Aleem Khan and PML-Q parliamentary leader in Punjab Assembly Moonis Elahi in connection with their offshore companies on Jan 29 and 30, respectively, at its Thokar Niaz Baig ofQice. Moonis Elahi said he would duly appear before NAB to respond to all its queries as “I have all the respect for the institutions”. Retired

Justice Javed Iqbal, the NAB chairman, had recently ordered an investigation of 435 offshore companies owned by Pakistanis. The NAB executive board had already approved Qiling a reference against Nawaz, Shahbaz and others involved in this (road project) case. Ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his sons Hassan and Hussain, daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-inlaw Captain (r) Mohammad Safdar

are facing trial in three corruption references Qiled against them by NAB. CM Shehbaz is also accused of directing the Punjab Land Development Company (PLDC) to assign the project of Ashiana-i-Iqbal to the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) resulting in award of contract to M/s Lahore Casa Developers (JV), thus causing a loss of Rs715 million and ultimately “failure of the project”.

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ISLAMABAD

M ArSHAD

www.customstoday.com

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s result of strict and heightened anti-smuggling measures, Pakistan Customs, a visible increase in seizures of smuggled good has been observed in last three Qiscal years.

Particularly, Collectorate of Customs Quetta and Torkham have shown tremendous performance in this regard.

In Qirst six months of the current Qiscal year, Pakistan Customs made a seizure of goods amounting Rs 10366 million” a well placed source at Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) shared data with Customs Today.

The data showed that Pakistan Customs made seizures of smuggled goods amounting to Rs 4652 million in previous Qiscal year, whereas the amount of seized smuggled goods in the Qiscal year 2015-16 was Rs 14343 million, however, value of seized smuggled goods in Qiscal year 2014-15 was Rs9582 million.

The data further revealed that Collectorate of Customs, Quetta seized smuggled goods amounting to Rs1350 million in Qiscal year

2016-17 and smuggled goods valued Rs760.23 million in Qirst half of current Qiscal year (July-December 2017-18) Similarly, Collectorate of Customs Peshawar seized smuggled goods amounting to Rs2379 million in 2016-17 million while value of seized smuggled goods during Qirst half of current Qiscal year (July-December 2017-18) is Rs1956 million.

Particularly, the source added that the Collectorate of Customs Quetta galvanized the anti-smuggling squads at its bordering stations including Taftan by providing more human resource and developing physical infrastructure and had established a number of check posts which had

resulted in tangible achievements in the form of more seizures, (in terms of value) as compared to the past.

Moreover, the source said that Customs Quetta took concrete steps like enhanced vigilance on smuggling prone routs and closer coordination with other law enforcement agencies (LEAs). This resulted in seizures by Collectorate Customs, Quetta of 978 animals of cost, insurance and freight (CIF) value amounting to Rs21.483 million 2016-17 and 431 animals of CIF value amounting to Rs14.064 million during this year.

As regards the Customs stations Torkham, the source said that it was the main crossing point on Pak-Afghan border for bilateral trade. It is also the major route for Afghan Transit Cargo through Pakistan.

“Despite limited resources available vis-a-vis other agencies preset on the border like FC and political administration, the Customs ofQicials at Torkham have thwarted many attempts of smuggling of gold, currency, contrabands and narcotics etc” the source concluded.

gled f smug o s e r illion e seizu s mad 4652 m s m r o t o s t g cu the ereas ountin h m w a , s r a good ods in scal ye led go ious fi g v g e r u p 43 sm in rs 143 seized s f a o t w n 16 d amou 2015f seize l year a c s alue o fi v , r e the v e 2014l year n, how a o c i l s l i fi m ods in illion led go 582 m 9 smugg s r s 15 wa

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Founder & Chairman Zulfiqar Ali Editor rahil Yasin editor@customsbulletin.com.pk For advertising & subscription marketing@customsbulletin.com.pk www.customsbulletin.com Phones: 042-35781643-4, Fax: 042-35781645 Address: 627, Siddiq Trade Centre, Gulberg, Lahore

EDItorIAL

fitch revises pakistan’s ratingstonegative

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n its recent announcement, Fitch Ratings has downgraded the outlook on Pakistan’s long-term foreign and local currency issuer default ratings to negative and has affirmed ‘B’ rating on the grounds that the gains that the country had made under three-year extended fund facility programme of the International Monetary Fund had been partial reversed. The loan programme was completed in September 2016 to boost foreign currency reserves and achieve microeconomic stability. However, the government failed on both the accounts.

The foreign exchange reserves have come down to $17 billion and microeconomic stability has lost somewhere in the middle of political polarization. Though Fitch ratings are mere predictions about future events which could not be verified as facts, its calculations are based on official and non-official documentation which it collects from independent auditors, attorneys and other experts to produce issuer default ratings. The findings of Fitch Ratings give the fund managers a chance to outlook into positive and negative aspects of the economy. Unfortunately, the assessments presented by local think-tanks and foreign rating agencies are never taken seriously by policymakers. The government has already floated international bonds to alleviate pressure on finance and economy, but experts look Pakistan as the potential customer of the International Monetary Fund. Soon after assuming the office, the government of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz sought a loan of $6.2 billion under the programme to help prop up shrinking foreign currency reserves. But the step fired back as the government has failed to stop depreciation of the local currency, tax rebates on exports and rationalise import duties of non-essential goods. On another note, the country is passing through political uncertainty, which prevents the government from taking any long term decision. Fitch predicts the overall reserves of the country could fall to $16.8 billion at the end of the current fiscal year from $22.6 billion two years ago. It says the reserves could further fall if rupee remains stable and macroeconomic policies are tightened to restrain imports.

underperformance of economy T

LAHORE

Dr AftAB AfZAL

www.customstoday.com

he economy of Pakistan has always under performed during political as well as military governments partly because of ill-planning and ill-devised policies and partly due to incapacity of the ofQicial machinery to implement the vital decisions.

The country is potentially rich in human and natural resources, with highly qualiQied fund managers and skilled workforce. But no one could do anything to change the lot of this nation. The business and industrial community wants friendly environment, but factually they are the tax evaders in the eyes of the govern-

ment agencies. Which-hunting of investors leads to capital Qlight and unfriendly business policies means recession. When tough laws are made to control banking transactions, the Qloodgates of money laundering are turned open from all sides and when high and unrealistic import tariffs are imposed, trade of smuggled items thrives. Casualty of mismanagement is economy and principle beneQiciaries of the maladministration are the corrupt elements no matter they are ofQicials or the businessmen. The trust deQicit increases with every government step and drifts away the genuine taxpayers from the government authorities. In the absence of a core policy on any sector of the

economy, everything is messed up in this country. According to newspaper reports, the All Pakistan Business Forum has expressed dismay over setting the exports target of $35 billion by 2020, which it says is much below the potentials of Pakistan’s economy.

Sustainable growth could only be achieved when non-textile sectors are also facilitated. If government wants to curtail the possible increase in inQlation from the beginning, it will have to take certain austerity measures. The rupee is already in dangerous zone as it is losing its worth against dollar with every passing day. Increase in dollar rate means the country will have to pay more on import of goods and it will shake the dy-

namics of the country’s economy.

The government has apparently only one option and that is to enter another loan programme with the International Monetary Fund.

But the loans are increasingly becoming part of the problem than the not part of the solution. The monster of debt servicing is round the corner at a time when the government struggling to maintain foreign currency reserves. Why the government has failed to launch business simulation drive to deal with economic mess is a million dollar question. Unless prudent policies are devised and the government shuns lavish spending, it will be difQicult for the country to achieve cherished goal of prosperity.

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ATIR postpones hearing of case filed by M/s Telenor Pakistan Limited ISLAMABAD: Appellate Tribunal Inland Revenue (ATIR) dated in office hearing on M/s Telenore Pakistan Limited’s tax matter after submission of record by parties.

Account Member Dr Ghulam Mujtaba Bhatti was hearing the case involving Federal Board of Revenue and M/s Telenore Pakistan Limited. According to details, M/s Telenore Pakistan Limited had challenged recovery of issued to it in head of outstanding income tax by the LTU, Islamabad. M/s Telenore Pakistan Limited had submitted the department had issued the demand for the tax year 2016 in head of income tax under provisions of Income Tax Ordinance, 2001. Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), officers of LTU including commissioner Inland Revenue, commissioner Inland Revenue (Appeals) and Appellate Tribunal Inland Revenue (ATIR) were made respondent in the case.

Smuggling of hashish & tyres frustrated by customs I&I Karachi

Thursday February 1, 2018

National

customs tribunal imposes fine on Ayyan Ali for not following case

KARACHI

wAQAr AHMED ANSArI www.customsbulletin.com

he Directorate of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Quetta confiscated a big quantity of hashish and different kinds of tyres worth Rs6.58million.

Sources told reporter that Director Customs Intelligence and Investigation Quetta Irfan Javed received a tip-off that some smugglers are trying to smuggle hashish and non-duty-paid tyres from Quetta into different cities. He immediately constituted a raiding team.

Team In-Charge, Preventive Shafiqur-Rehman and others, enhanced surveillance on the Quetta Highway and started searching vehicles. During the search operation, the team intercepted a truck bearing registration No: QBJ-2547 which was going out of the Quetta city. During the checking, the cus-

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ISLAMABAD

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NAEEM uLLAH tArIQ www.customsbulletin.com

he Customs Appellate Tribunal has imposed a Qine of Rs 5,000 on Ayyan Ali for not following the case and responding to the notices. The tribunal’s bench imposed the Qine while hearing Ayan’s petition for restoration of money laundering case that has been dismissed twice for non-prosecution after the appellant failed to take part in tribunal’s proceedings despite issuance of multiple notices. A division bench of the tribunal comprising Chairman Justice (r) Manzoor Hussain and Ziauddin Wazir heard the arguments. Afterwards, the bench set February 13 for hearing of the arguments.

Earlier, while hearing the previous petitions, the bench had time and again issued notices to Ayyan Ali and her counsel Latif Khosa. The tribunal then had imposed the said Qine for ignoring the tribunal’s notices. Ayyan Ali had Qiled petition with the Customs Appellate Tribunal for early hearing of her restored appeal, challenging an announce-

ment about money laundering of $500,000 in March this 2015. Her counsel argued that his client was innocent. The counsels submitted that the department had not sufQicient evidence to prove that black money was being laundered. He asked the tribunal to set aside the announcement made by the customs court. The bench then dated

in ofQice the hearing.

Ayyan Ali’s counsel, Sardar Latif Khosa had paid Qine Rs 10,000 for restoration of the case. Earlier, the case was dismissed for non-prosecution by the appellant. Khosa had Qiled the petition at Customs Appellate Tribunal, Islamabad, challenging a decision of a lower customs court regarding conQiscation of $500,000, seized

while being smuggled by Ayyan Ali, and imposition of Qine for trying to smuggle money out of Pakistan.

Ayyan was arrested from Benazir Bhutto International Airport with $500,000 in March 2015. The Airport Security Force intercepted her and recovered the said amount from her luggage. She was released on bail after four months in Adiala Jail.

Negotiations underway to get LNg from Azerbaijan ISLAMABAD

toms team recovered 25kg of hashish behind the fuel tank and 100 non-duty-paid tyres. The customs team seized all the items and arrested two smugglers including a driver. The Directorate of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Quetta registered an FIR against the smuggler and started investigations. Smugglers were identified as Zahid M Khan and Muneer Mohsin Wazeer. Earlier, the Directorate of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Quetta confiscated a large number of mobile phones and vehicles’ batteries worth Rs6million and arrested three smugglers of Waheed Pathan group.

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akistan LNG Limited (PLL) is negotiating supply of Liquefied Natural Gas from State Oil Company of Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) after the two countries signed an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) last year. “A Price Negotiating Committee (PNC) has been constituted with approval of Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet to discuss LNG pricing issues between PLL and SOCAR,” official sources said.

Following the agreement, they said, Pakistan had nominated Pakistan State Oil Company Limited (PSOCL), Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL), Pakistan LNG Terminal Limited (PLTL), Oil and Gas

Development Company Limited (OGDCL), Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) for negotiating sale and purchase agreement for petroleum products, LNG supply

and establishment of LNG terminals. While, the Azerbaijani side nominated the SOCAR for the purpose. The sources said draft of sale and purchase agreement for

petroleum products had been prepared by PSO and negotiations in this regard were expected to start with SOCAR shortly. Answering a question, they said world major players were showing keen interest to invest in LNG sector of Pakistan after seeing immense business potential of the commodity here.

“LNG is the cheapest source of fuel and the world’s major players are showing interest to invest in LNG sector of Pakistan by setting up their own terminals and developing transmission network to supply the commodity to consumers,” they said. Before LNG import, they said Pakistan was importing one million ton fertilizer per year and now it was exporting over six million tons fertilizer, besides entire power generation sector was getting smooth gas supply.

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FIA recovers unregistered drugs, other stuff in raids Thursday February 1, 2018

National company exempted from St, fED: rabbani refers Sro issue to finance body

LAHORE: Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has conducted raids in different cities and recovered unregistered drugs as well as sex toys, said Assistant Director FIA Jamil Ahmed Khan Mayo.

Addressing a press conference, he said that raids were conducted in Faisalabad, Sargodha and Jaranwala, and three persons were arrested over their involvement in the illegal business of selling unregistered drugs as well as sex toys online.

court awards imprisonment to suspect lady booked in gold & phone smuggling

ISLAMABAD

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enate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani referred the matter of issuance of an SRO to the concerned committee which exempted a particular company from the payment of sales tax and federal excise duty. The chairman took the decision over a calling attention notice moved by Senator Barrister Murtaza Wahab about the issuance of SRO No.47 (1)/2008, dated 23 January, 2018 whereby one particular company has been exempted from the Payment of Sales Tax and Federal Excise Duty. The chairman said that Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) had no authority to approve the SRO according to judgment of the Supreme Court. State Minster for Finance and Economic Affairs Rana Muhammad Afzal said that the SRO was issued because the projects were being carried out under CPEC.

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NAB summons Aleem, Moonis over offshore companies he National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has summoned PTI and PML-Q leaders Aleem Khan and Ch Moonis Elahi on January 29 and 30, respectively, in offshore companies case, said a spokesman for the bureau on. NAB has also sought record from LDA about the construction of Raiwind Road leading to top PML-N leader’s residence. The bureau has sought record from different state institutions and details of offshore companies reportedly established in tax havens abroad by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Aleem Khan and Pakistan Muslim LeagueQuaid (PML-Q) leader Chaudhry Moonis Elahi.–CB Report

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ustoms Taxation and AntiSmuggling Court Judge Syed Faiz Rasool Rashdi awarded eight days imprisonment to suspect lady Uzma Mehwish on pleading guilty. She was booked in a case of attempting to smuggle gold and cellular phones worth millions of rupees.

During the hearing, the suspected lady appeared before the court along with her counsel and moved a petition for pleading guilty and left herself on the mercy of the court. After hearing the arguments, the court framed charge against her and awarded eight days imprisonment to her as undergone period.

On last date of hearing, investigation ofQicer submitted charge sheet

against arrested lady suspect namely Uzma Mehwish and others and informed that on a credible information

regarding the smuggling of gold and cellular phones worth millions of rupees through a passenger coming from

Dubai, a team was constituted and was instructed to enhance the surveillance as well as to carry out strict checking at both arrival and the departure lounges of the airport. He further informed that on suspicion, the team of Customs Preventive intercepted a woman passenger who reached Karachi through Qlight No FZ329 from Dubai who was asked the passenger for their travel documents as well as to get the luggage checked. During the search of the passenger’s luggage, the Customs Preventive team found 377 gram gold attached with her body worth nearly two million rupees as well as 10 expensive cellular phones concealed in the travel bag and she also failed to produce any lawful documents on these smuggled goods, therefore, ofQicials of Customs Preventive has taken the smuggled goods into custody and Qiled a case against the woman.

customs Adjudication-I acquits itself well by serving 14 notices on defaulter companies T

KARACHI

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he Customs Adjudication-I showed an excellent performance in 30 days of January 2018. The adjudication has issued eight show cause and six Qinal notices to defaulter companies in 30 days of January.

Sources told Customs Today on Tuesday that the Customs Adjudication-I has retrieved Rs5.88million from M/s Yasir Garments and Export Karachi. The company was allegedly involved in tax evasion.

Sources told our reporter that Collector Customs Adjudication-I M Javed served a show-cause notice on the said company for allegedly causing the treasury a loss of Rs5.88million by way of mis-declaration of classiQication.

M/s Yasir Garments and Export Karachi imported a consignment of

cotton folding machines and powder chemicals and got them cleared by mis-declaring the classiQication under the Pakistan Custom Tariff (PCT) from the Pakistan Interna-

tional Container Terminal (PICT) through Examiner Nasir Sharif Wattoo. The company allegedly availed undue and inadmissible beneQits as well as exemption of

sales tax. It is pertinent to mention here that M/s Yasir Garments and Export Karachi itself has imported identical/same goods under the correct PCT heading 2705.4639.

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Customs Islamabad requires scanners & equipments to run NIIP smoothly ISLAMABAD: The MCC Islamabad needs scanners and other equipments worth Rs53million to run the AB, UAB, walkthroughs at the NIIAP. According to details given by sources of the Model Customs Collectorate (MCC) Islamabad that New International Islamabad Air Port (NIIAP) needs a large quantity of equipments to run customs functions smoothly at the NIIAP. The MCC Islamabad requires one X.Rapiscan 627 DV at International Arrivals and its value is Rs14million. The NIIAP needs two XRapiscan-620 which costs Rs5million each. It also requires two motorized belt plus output trays that cost Rs1.00million, two stand-rollers input plus output which are valued at Rs0.4million while NIIAP needs two voltage stabilizers-3-KV and UPS 5-KV for scanners 627 DV worth Rs0.4million and it also requires one voltage stabilizer 03-KV and UPS 5-KV for scanner-620 which cost Rs0.2million.

pcA detects tax evasion of rs11.42m

by M/s Shah Suleman garments KARACHI

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he Directorate of Customs Post Clearance Audit (PCA) has detected duties and tax evasion of Rs 11.42 million allegedly by M/s Shah Suleman Garments, it is learnt. Official sources told Customs Today that M/s Shah Suleman Garments imported a consignment of different kinds of silk and colour chemicals under the PCT Heading 2254.4505 and got it cleared from Port Qasim Karachi vide GDs on October 29, 2017 by paying customs duty at 6 percent after claiming a benefit of SRO 566/2007 by the hand of Examiner Suhail Ahmed. However, the subject item is correctly classifiable under the PCT 2248.3870 attracting customs duty at 10 percent and income tax at 12 percent. Thus, by way of mis-declaration

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of classification, M/s Shah Suleman Garments evaded/ short-paid Rs 11.42 million. So the importer has violated the provisions of Section 33 (9) & (2B) of the Customs Act-1969, Section 8, 9 read with Section 56 of the Sales Tax Act-1990 and Section 139 of Income Tax Ordinance 2001 punishable under clauses (2) and 48 of Section 158(6) of the Customs Act-1969, Section 30 (4) of the Sales Tax Act-1990 and Section 138 & 147 of Income Tax Ordinance 2001 and Section 7-A of the Sales Tax Act-1990 read with chapter X of the Sales Tax Special Procedure Rules 2007 (Special procedures for payment of Sales Tax by the importers) and under relevant provisions of Income Tax Ordinance 2001. Accordingly, an audit observation was issued to M/s Shah Suleman Garments for explaining and clarifying as to on what basis they have avoided/evaded the taxable duty and taxes.

National

customs Export recovers rs 13.19 million from defaulter companies

KwSB reduces timeframe for new water connections KARACHI

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arachi Water & Sewerage Board (KWSB) has notified reduction in timeframe for obtaining a commercial connection. Applicants will now be able to receive water and sewerage connections in 21 days compared to 61 days previously. The notification outlines only six (6) steps for commercial connections compared to twenty-seven (27) steps mentioned in the previous KWSB SOP. KWSB waived the requirement of property tax valuation form (PT-1) for new connection applications.

The PT-1 was a prerequisite for applications previously. KWSB has also reduced the number of accompanying documents required to apply for connections to four (4) from eight (8) previously.

These changes have been updated on the KWSB website for citizens’ information. The Government of Sindh is moving aggressively to transform the regulatory environment of the province.

The aim is to make Sindh an easy and most competitive place to do business.

The government has formed Sindh Investment Climate Improvement Cell (SICIC) – a dedicated unit for execution of the reform agenda.

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KARACHI

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he Customs Export has recovered evaded taxes and duties amounting to Rs 13.19 million from defaulter companies which were issued with notices in this regard. Sources told Customs Today, during scrutiny of the import data, it was found that M/s Aslam Traders availed undue beneQits and concessions by importing different consignments and misusing the SRO 567.

The company founded involved in a tax evasion of Rs 5.69 million.

After detecting tax evasion, the Customs Exports issued them with Qinal notice to deposit the evaded amount within fourteen days.

After receiving the notice, the management of the M/s Aslam Traders deposited the evaded amount in the ofQicial account of the Customs Exports.

On the other hand, the management of the M/s Humaira Ali Enterprises Gulbai also cleared Rs 4.50 million of taxes and duties. Sources told that M/s Humaira Ali Enterprises Gulbai also availed undue beneQits and concessions and avoided paying taxes according to

Thursday February 1, 2018

the customs by laws. The Customs Exports authorities issued them with a Qinal notice. After receiving the notice, the management of the M/s Humaira Ali Enterprises Gulbai deposited the evaded amount of taxes. Other defaulter company M/s Shamsher and Sons deposited Rs 3 million against the Qinal notice No: 274/2017 issued on Dec 27, 2017.

Meanwhile, The Directorate of Customs Post Clearance Audit (PCA) has uncovered duties and tax evasion

of Rs16.58million allegedly committed by M/s Azam Suleman Enterprises, it is learnt. The ofQicial sources told our reporter that M/s Azam Suleman Enterprises imported a consignment of various types of heavy duty generator parts under the PCT Heading 2356.3805 and got it cleared from the Port Qasim Karachi vide GDs on November 11, 2017 by paying customs duty at 8 percent after claiming a beneQit of SRO 566/2007 by Appraiser Khawar Ayubi.

fto assures to resolves problems of exporters

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KARACHI

MuBEEN HuSSAIN

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ederal Tax Ombudsman Mushtaq Ahmad Sukhera has said that resolving the tax matters of exporters shall be a service to the nation, on all important matters input of exporters who are earning valuable foreign exchange for the country which is much needed to narrow the trade deQicit.

Addressing the prominent personalities in PHMA office, FTO said that declining trend in overall exports in last 4 years, is clear manifestation that we are not on the right direction due to which our ex-

ports fell from USD 25 billion in the year 2013 to $ 20.45 billion in 2017. If exporters are not strengthened, the exports will not increase.

He said that our Tax to GDP ratio is lower than even African countries while the neighboring countries, Tax to GDP ratio is much higher. Taxpayers have no trust on tax system and this trust deficit needs to be narrowed. The Audit Notices issued by FBR are creating troubles for the taxpayers who have to divert their energies towards responding to these notices instead of focusing on export matters and added that FTO office will take every step in accordance

with law to facilitate exporters by resolving their genuine tax related issues. Regarding Withholding Tax, FTO said that it is the easiest tool to collect advance tax and instead of this, FBR should improve its tax collection system and broaden the tax net instead of squeezing the existing taxpayers.

On a query regarding Further Tax, the FTO assured to take up the matter from his platform.

On the matter of pending applications of Zero-rating of utilities, the FTO said that it is unfortunate that genuine exporters having good profile & history with FBR also suffer which is due to ineffi-

ciency of the system. The FTO office will also extend help to exporters if the Recovery Notices are not received by them but amounts deducted from their bank accounts. Approx. 2,000 complaints are submitted to FTO office annually. Informal complaints are not included in this which we try to resolve through correspondence.

Prominent among those who attended the meeting included Chairman PHMA Tariq Munir, Vice Chairman PHMA Khizer Mehboob, Chairman PAKSEA Kamran Chandna, former Chairman PCFA Khawaja Usman and other leading exporters alongwith others in the event.

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World Customs

Top ten international stock picks for 2018

LONDON: After a surge in U.S. markets during 2017, it could be time to start moving some capital to international equity markets. At CressCap our computer analysis employs a multi-factor quant model which focuses on well-balanced fundamentals.

In this model we identify buy ideas with the collective traits of value, growth, strong EPS revisions, profitability and good long-term price momentum. All of these characteristics are measured and ranked on a sector relative basis with academic letter grades (A-F). Employing these core metrics has allowed our product to identify what we believe will be successful buys in 2018.

Thursday February 1, 2018

two foreigners arrested for cocaine smuggling in Nepal

greenwich man awards 6 months jail term ZURICH

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epal police today claimed to have busted an international drug smuggling racket, as it seized nearly 2 kg cocoaine pegged worth 40 million Nepalese rupees.Bolivian national Freddy Mamani Andia and Thai national Khuanjai Khanarat, both in their late twenties, were arrested yesterday after 1.9 kg of cocaine was recovered from their possession, the police said.

The seized amount of the drugs has been pegged at 40 million Nepalese rupees, the Narcotics Control Bureau of Nepal said.The duo having links with an international drug racket were nabbed from a hotel in Thamel, tourist hub of Kathmandu during a security check, said Thule Rai, Deputy Inspector General of Police in-charge of the anti-

coca cola to invest more in Bangladesh he Coca-Cola Company is going to invest more in Bangladesh to expand its footprint, encouraged by growing demand for beverages and steady economic growth of the country, said a top official recently. You will come to know about our next plan of investment very soon. We are working on it. We want to invest continuously,” said Tapas Kumar Mondal, managing director of International Beverages Private Ltd (IBPL), Bangladesh, a subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Company. We will be expanding in all areas, not only in plant but also in the market and portfolio.” He made the disclosure in an interview with The Daily Star last week on the occasion of Coca-Cola completing one year since setting up its plant in the country to cater to the growing beverage market, estimated to be Tk 2,500-Tk 3,000 crore annually. –CB Report

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drug cell of the police. Meanwhile, As the government has been implementing the 90 per cent coverage area of pictorial health warning (PHW) on packets of tobacco products and has also banned sales and consumption of tobacco products in public places, these provisions seem to have brought down the consumption rate of tobacco prod-

ucts of late. As per statistics of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), import of tobacco products has come down by 30.8 per cent in the Qirst four months of Qiscal year 2017-18 compared to the same period of the previous Qiscal year. NRB data shows that Nepal imported Rs 571 million worth of tobacco products in the Qirst four months of Qiscal 2017-18.

Singapore to automatically exchange tax info with 61 states

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ingapore has announced that it has activated automatic exchange of information relationships with a total of 61 territories, as part of global efforts to tackle tax evasion and Qiscal crime. The exchanges will take place under the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard (CRS), the new international standard. It provides for the automatic exchange of information between those territories that have

agreed to exchange information automatically. Singapore’s CRS Regulations, which came into force at the beginning of the year, require and empower all Qinancial institutions to put in place necessary processes and systems to collect Qinancial account information, generally from January 1, 2017. Singapore has adopted the “wider approach” under the CRS, which means that Qinancial institutions. –CB Report

Greenwich resident was sentenced to six months in prison for failing to report to the U.S. Department of Treasury more than $28 million in funds he maintained in secret bank accounts in Switzerland. According to federal investigators, Hyong Kwon Kim is a citizen of South Korea who lived in Greenwich as a legal permanent resident while running family businesses. The Department of Treasury stated Kim stashed money he inherited in Credit Suisse accounts in Switzerland that concealed his identity to U.S. tax authorities, allowing him to evade taxes. bKim was ordered to pay $14 million in penalties and restitution of $250,000.

Meanwhile, In other countries, politicians express concern about the cryptocurrency craze, citing worries

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about security, regulation, volatility and a speculative bubble. Not in Switzerland. The afQluent Alpine country wanted “to be the crypto-nation”, Johann Schneider-Ammann, economics minister, told journalists as he arrived for a private crypto Qinance conference in St Moritz last week. Of the 10 biggest proposed initial coin offerings — by which start-ups raise funds by selling tokens — four have used Switzerland as a base, according to PwC. The burgeoning ICO industry is burnishing Switzerland’s business friendly reputation and sometimes buccaneering spirit — a reputation spoilt by the past decade’s scandals over the help its traditional private banks gave to wealthy clients in evading tax. But it has created a dilemma for Swiss politicians and regulators: just how far should they go in encouraging a digital “wild west”? As Mr Schneider-Ammann spoke in St Moritz, the government in Bern announced an ICO working group to consider possible actions by regulators and lawmakers.

Kuwait food market report 2014

uwait Food Market Report 2014 features Emerging Market Analysts ( )’s market assessment and independent forecasts for food expenditure, consumption, sales, and imports/exports and forecasts for the mass grocery retail sector. The report also includes analyses of major regulatory developments, the background macroeconomic outlook and competitive landscape comparing national and multinational companies by leading products and services, sales, investments, partners and expansion strategies.

Kuwait Food Market Report pro-

vides industry professionals and strategists, sector analysts, business investors, trade associations and regulatory bodies with independent forecasts and competitive intelligence on the food and drink industry and the mass grocery retail market in Kuwait. The report also presents a unique blend of qualitative analysis combined with extensive quantitative data including global, regional and country outlook and country forecasts from 2014 2019 – all highlighting strategic business opportunities. Benchmark ’s independent food industry forecasts for Kuwait. –CB Report

Malaysia joins oEcD led multilateral tax framework

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KUALA LUMPUR

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alaysia is committed to meet the internationally-agreed tax standards by signing the Organisation for Economic and Cooperation Development (OECD)-led initiative, the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Meas-

ures to Prevent Base Erosion and ProQit Shifting (MLI). In a statement today, the Ministry of Finance said Deputy Finance Minister I, Datuk Wira Othman Aziz, signed the MLI yesterday at OECD’s headquarters in Paris.

The ministry said by signing the MLI, Malaysia, together with other countries including China, Indonesia, Australia, India, Singapore and Japan, had taken a proactive position in executing

the best tax practices under international standards, including the implementation of Base Erosion and ProQit Shifting (BEPS) action plans. The adoption of MLI was the result of comprehensive discussions of over 100 jurisdictions, including Malaysia, at the Ad Hoc Group Meeting on MLI in preserving the taxing right of countries by taking into account the development of the latest cross-border activities in

trade and investments,” it said. It said the importance of signing the MLI to Malaysia was due to the signiQicant number of enforced double taxation avoidance agreements, which currently stands at 73 countries. Othman said the implementation of this initiative was very pertinent as it aimed to close gaps that allowed proQit to be artiQicially shifted to low- or no-tax jurisdictions.

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Kuwait’s trade surplus with Japan nearly doubles KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait’s trade surplus with Japan nearly doubled to JPY 55.0 billion (USD 501 million) from a year earlier in December, as exports remained strong, Japanese Finance Ministry said Wednesday.

The surplus jumped by 90.7 percent, up for the 12th month in a row, the ministry said in a preliminary report. Kuwaiti overall exports to Japan surged 60.2 percent year-on-year to JPY 71.5 billion (USD 650 million) for the 12th consecutive month of increase. Imports from Japan also grew 4.2 percent to JPY 16.4 billion (USD 149 million), up for the second month. As exports rose by a wider margin than imports, Kuwait maintained monthly black ink with Japan for nine years and 11 months.

Nepal’s export to India takes a steep dive he country’s export to India slowed to a crawl in the first five months of this fiscal as major export items recorded negative growth in the review period. Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), while India’s share in total import of Nepal is increasing, export to India in terms of total export has been falling gradually over the months of this fiscal after the southern neighbour enforced goods and services tax (GST) on July 1. As per the central bank’s report, exports to India stood at 53.3 per cent of total exports in first five months of this fiscal against 55.6 per cent in corresponding period of previous fiscal. The country exported goods worth Rs 17.96 billion to India in the review period. Export growth to India was just 5.5 per cent in the first five months compared to 22.6 per cent growth in first five months of last fiscal compared to the same period of 2015-16, according to NRB. Export of major export items like

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Ports & Shipping

port of Zeebrugge, cosco sign deal for cSp terminal BRUSSELS

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elgium’s Port of Zeebrugge has signed an agreement with China-based COSCO Shipping Ports regarding the concession terms of the CSP Zeebrugge Terminal. COSCO also entered a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Marseille-based shipping firm and Ocean Alliance member CMA CGM Group during the signing ceremony, which was held in Brussels.

CMA has agreed to make an initial investment of 10% in CSP Zeebrugge as part of the MoU. COSCO Shipping chairman Captain Xu Lirong said: “Being the major gateway port of Belgium and major hub port in Northwest Europe, Zeebrugge port plays an important role in sea transportation.

“The signing of concession terms with Port of Zeebrugge will further enhance the terminal services and deepen the bilateral trade relation-

ships between the two countries.”

“The signing of concession terms with Port of Zeebrugge will further enhance the terminal services and deepen the bilateral trade relationships between the two countries.

“Furthermore, we are discussing with Port of Zeebrugge about our cooperation of developing full logistics services on the terminal hinterland. “I hope we will have developments soon to enhance the customer services.” CSP is expected

to assume control of the terminal and develop it into a gateway port of COSCO Shipping in Northwest Europe following the completion of the concession agreement. Port of Zeebrugge managing director Joachim Coens said: “Zeebrugge port provides favourable coastal conditions to accommodate mega-vessels. “Located in the outer port with strong infrastructure, CSP Zeebrugge is well equipped to provide efQicient services to shipping companies.

Thursday February 1, 2018

Shipping activity at port Qasim wo ships M.V Beks Cenk and M.T Horizon scheduled to load or offload 29,000 tonnes Cement and 30,062 tonnes Palm oil arrived at outer anchorage of Port Qasim during last 24 hours. Berth occupancy remained modest at the port at 26% on Wednesday where a total of five ships namely, APL Charleston, CMA CGM Nerval, Umm Addalkh, Bulk Electra and Fraiha are currently occupying berths to load or offload containers Soya bean and Palm oil during last 24 hours. Cargo volume of 105,225 tonnes, comprising 46,287 tonnes import cargo and 58,938 tonnes export cargo inclusive of containerized cargo carried in 3,361 containers (TEUs), (259 TEUs imports and 3,102 TEUs exports) was handled at the port during last 24 hours. Container vessel CMA CGM Nerval sailed out to sea Thursday morning, while another container vessel APL Charleston and Gas carrier Fraiha are expected to sail on same day. –CB Report

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Qatar Eu air & sea freight lanes to grow faster juice, cardamom, plastic utensils, GI pipes, among others, plunged heavily after the integrated GST increased the tariff to export to India.Export of cardamom plummeted by 68.4 per cent to Rs 393.5 million in the first five months of this fiscal compared to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. The country had exported cardamom worth Rs 1.25 billion in the first five months of last fiscal 2016-17. Commerce Secretary Chandra Kumar Ghimire said that exporters need to diversify the market of their products to minimise the risk of market concentration. As per the principle of not putting all the eggs in the same basket, exporters should pay attention to market diversification. –CB Report

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atar EU trade lane has been projected as one of the busiest routes, both in terms of air and sea freight lanes, in the Emerging Market. The EU-Qatar air freight lane is forecast to grow by 39.4 percent, while Qatar-EU sea freight air lane is projected to expand by a whopping 121.7 percent.

The annual Emerging Markets Logistics Index, released by global logistics leader Agility described Qatar as the “surprise GCC Index darling this year”, with its score improving by 0.24 points to 6.02, ranking it No. 11. Qatar made signiQicant gains in Compatibility as economic diversiQication progressed and non-tariff barriers were judged to be less of a burden, while Connectivity improved thanks to better liner ship-

ping connections. The index that evaluates the performance of 50 emerging markets globally, found Qatar improving its overall index ranking by one spot to (No.11).

Qatar jumped two spots to No.8 in the infrastructure/transport cate-

gory and maintained its grip on No. 2 for business conditions. Qatar leapt past Chile to rank as the No. 2 emerging market for countries with less than $300bn annual GDP. Malaysia remained the leader for smaller emerging markets. Qatar

stood second in the Compatibility sub-index, which is effectively a measure of market accessibility and the ease of doing business. Qatar, which halved the gap last year, has caught up even more as economic diversiQication progresses and nontariff barriers diminish. The Agility report noted that Qatar’s improvement should be treated cautiously as the data has not yet got a chance to combine several factors. It added that the country is well-equipped to endure the blockade. Firstly, the country can rely on highly developed air and sea infrastructure. Hamad International Airport in Doha is the second-largest air cargo hub in the region, after Dubai International, and handled 1.7m tonnes of goods in 2016. Hamad Port became fully operational in December 2016 and has an annual capacity of 2m TEUs, 1.7m tonnes of general cargo, 1m tonnes of grain and 500,000 vehicles.

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Punjab govt providing 60% subsidy on drip irrigation system Thursday February 1, 2018

Business

KARACHI: Sindh Minister for Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Control Mukesh Kumar Chawla Tuesday ordered to suspend Excise Inspector Mumtaz Soomro from Dadu, who is said to be found involved in immoral activities.

Chawla has asked the Director General ET & NC Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui to probe into the matter and bring the facts on surface, according to a press release issued here.

court reserves verdict in Avenfield reference ISLAMABAD

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n accountability court , after hearing arguments, reserved its verdict in the AvenQield Qlats reference that was Qiled by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against the Sharif family after the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Panama Papers case.

The former premier, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and her husband Captain (retd) Safdar were present in the court. During the hearing today, conducted by Justice Muhammad Bashir, Nawaz Sharif’s lawyer Khawaja Haris raised an objection on the supplementary reference in

IrSA releases 41,700 cusecs water KARACHI

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the AvenQield Qlats reference, saying there is nothing new in it.

“The reference has been Qiled in line with the JIT report and no Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) report has so far been Qiled,” said Khawaja Haris. According to him, the NAB had said that a supplementary reference would be Qiled when new ev-

govt to give administrative control of cotton to food Security Ministry

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he Indus River System Authority (IRSA) released 41,700 cusecs water from various rim stations with inflow of 29,500 cusecs. According to the data released by IRSA, water level in the Indus River at Tarbela Dam was 1444.94 feet, which was 64.94 feet higher than its dead level of 1,380 feet.

Water inflow in the dam was recorded as 16,300 cusecs and outflow as 22,000 cusecs. The water level in the Jhelum River at Mangla Dam was 1108.70 feet, which was 68.70 feet higher than.

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idence is found against the suspects but that is not the case. “The supplementary reference had to be Qiled in reply to a legal consultation.”

Khawaja Haris stressed that the supplementary reference was not as per the order of the top court and thus could not be accepted. “The supplementary reference was Qiled

to target Nawaz Sharif and even in that reference, the same allegations – already levelled in the interim reference – were repeated,” he said.

Nawaz Sharif’s lawyer said the reference included the matter from the JIT report. He continued to insist that “the supplementary reference was submitted on the basis of the statements made by Wajid Zia’s nephew and forensic expert.” The accountability court judge Mohammad Bashir reserved the verdict after hearing arguments presented by the NAB prosecutor general and former prime minister’s lawyer. In another reference related to Al-Azizia Company Limited, Director Foreign OfQice Afaq Ahmed recorded his statements. The NAB references stem from the July 28 judgment of the Supreme Court on the Panama Papers case.

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overnment is considering to bring the cotton crop management under the administrative control of Ministry of National Food Security and Research in order to streamline the issues and challenges being faced by the major cash crop of country. The measure would also help enhance per acre crop output and produce quality and world-class cotton in the country. Before 18th constitutional amendment and de-

volving of the food ministries to provinces, the cotton crop was the subject of federal ministry of food and agriculture. But after the constitutional amendment, cotton crop was put under the control of ministry of textile industry. In this regard, a committee headed by Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Sartaj Aziz was also formed, seeking the suggestion from all the stakeholders to streamline the matter, said an senior ofQicial in the Ministry of Textile Industry. Talking to media here on Tuesday, he said that the committee after its due deliber-

ations had recommended the government for bringing all matters related to cotton crops under the control of ministry of national food security and research. Besides, it had also proposed to establish a special research cell in Pakistan Agriculture Research Council to expedite research and development activities in cotton sector for preparing high quality seed varieties to enhance crop output in the country.

The recommendations of the committee would be presented in the next meeting of the federal cabinet for approval, he remarked.

cheetay collaborates with foodies family LAHORE

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heetay is well on its way to becoming a galvanising force in not only the tech industry but the culinary world of Lahore as well.

Continuing on a trajectory of growth and expansion in terms of acquiring more restaurants, Cheetay has become a multi category e-Commerce platform that offers not just food delivery but is set out to venture into separate business verticals such as Cheetay Healthcare, Cheetay Books, etc. The Cheetay Tiffin is another subcategory that was recently launched to provide fresh and healthy homemade food for those who do not have access or the means to eat a proper meal either at work or at home. Having recently secured $1.1 million in Series A funding, we are on a mission to make our name synonymous with e-Commerce by being an ubiquitous platform that delivers everything and anything the customer desires. In our goal to increase customer base we have collaborated with “Foodies Family”, a noted food forum on Facebook which has over 29,500 followers/subscribers. This is a virtual forum where ardent food lovers and aficionados gather to talk, share and discuss food, new restaurants, recipes and what’s new in the culinary world.

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Billions of rupees losses revealed in DIScos’ monthly progress ISLAMABAD

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akistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) has revealed billions of rupees losses in various power distribution companies (DISCOs) in monthly progress review meeting. A detailed review meeting of the performance of all Distribution Companies held for the month of December 2017, said a

press release. The progress of implementation of the development schemes under the Phase-I of the Sustainable Development Goals was satisfactory. Despite, a larger number of schemes in Multan Electric Power Company (MEPCO) and Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO) i.e. 3646 and 1595 schemes respectively had achieved the targeted timelines, the press release said. All DISCOs except Peshawar Electric Supply Company

(PESCO), Sukkur Electric Power Company (SEPCO) and Quetta Electric Supply Company (QESCO) have achieved the targets for picturebased meter reading for the domestic and commercial consumers.

In the drive for acquiring mobile phone numbers of all consumers MEPCO, IESCO & FESCO were the top three DISCOs with more than 90 per cent consumer mobile numbers in their database.

Performance of HESCO and

SEPCO was not encouraging with less than 24 per cent consumer mobile numbers acquired till Dec. 2017.

PESCO and QESCO were the worst since both could not acquire the mobile numbers of even 2 per cent of their total consumers. The drive to obtain mobile numbers was started so that consumers could be sent real time SMS regarding meter reading, status of fault at their feeder etc.

FESCO was the best among all DISCOs regarding no delay in imple-

mentation of its billing schedule closely followed by MEPCO. PESCO and QESCO were the worst with maximum delays of 11 days and 7 days in one of their batches respectively. In terms of accuracy of meter reading, FESCO and MEPCO were the best with mistakes of only 0.96% and 5.94% respectively, followed by GEPCO and HESCO. Worst performers were PESCO and LESCO with mistakes as high as 29.42% and 26.6% respectively.

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Iran lifts ban on registration for imports of rice TEHRAN: Iran has lifted ban on registration for imports of rice for five months, the customs administration announced in a statement published by the Fars news agency.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) said “the registration for imports of rice is allowed from January 21 until June 21”.

The government in November ended its seasonal import ban on rice which was imposed to support local prices during the harvest season.

More interaction, exchange of information on pakAfrica trade urged

Thursday February 1, 2018

Chambers

chinese delegation visits IccI to discuss JVs in SEZs under cpEc

KARACHI

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enior Vice President, Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Syed Mazhar Ali Nasir has emphasized on more interaction and exchange of information at two governments and business communities’ level to boost trade and economic cooperation between Pakistan and South Africa. He was speaking at a meeting with Acting High Commissioner of South Africa in Pakistan, Rasheeda Adam, here at the Federation. Honorary Consul General of South Africa in Karachi Ghulam Ali Muhammad, FPCCI former president S.M. Muneer, other senior FPCCI leaders Dr.Mirza Ikhtiar Baig,

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Abdul Sami Khan, Shakil Dhingra, Abdul Rashid Abro, Zahid Umer also attended, said FPCCI press release on Thursday. FPCCI’s SVP underlined the need for selecting and marketing of various products through solo exhibitions to be held on reciprocal basis.

The most of Pakistani items like sports goods, surgical items, leather goods, textiles and handicraft items are seen in the South African market.

However, he continued, due to nonbranding, these were not identified as Pakistan-made goods. He also stressed on activation of joint business council of Pakistan and South Africa, along with people-to-people contact in pursuance of Pakistan government’s policies “Look to Africa.” He assured the High Commissioner for all possible cooperation for promoting bilateral trade and economic relations, and holding exhibitions and business fora.

ISLAMABAD

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delegation of China’s largest law Qirm Dacheng Dentons led

by Yongqian Xu, Senior Partner visited Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry to discuss establishment of joint ventures between the Chinese and Pakistani private sectors in Special Economic Zones being set up under CPEC project. Speaking at the occasion, Yonggian Xu said that his Qirm was one of the largest legal Qirm in the world with 136 ofQices in over 55 countries and it was connecting entrepreneurs and investors of China with the counterparts in foreign countries to promote business partnerships. He said the Qirm has over 40 years of experience to connect investors in Special Economic Zones and it wanted to play role for promoting JVs and business partnerships between the SMEs and corporates of China and Pakistan in SEZs under CPEC in Pakistan. He said the Qirm was providing various legal services to its clients including resolution of business disputes and it wanted to

play role in Pakistan to promote business collaborations between China and Pakistan. He also invited ICCI delegation to visit Shanxi province of China to explore collaborations with SME sector of China.

Speaking at the occasion, Sheikh Amir Waheed, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that 9 Special Economic Zones would be set up in Pakistan under CPEC and Dacheng Dentons should bring well-established companies of China with technology transfer to

enter into sustainable JVs and partnerships with Pakistani counterparts in these SEZs. He said by investing in Pakistan, Chinese investors would be able to produce competitive products and promote exports from Pakistan to South Asia, Middle East and other regional markets. He said ICCI was planning to set up a CPEC Facilitation Center and Dacheng Dentons should join hands with Chamber to promote business collaborations between the SMEs of China and Pakistan through

pakistani traders to participate in Expo 2025 ISLAMABAD

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delegation of Russian Federation led by Alexander G. Visokinskiy, Deputy Governor of the Sverdlovsk Region visited Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry and invited Pakistani business community to participate in the Expo 2025 that will be held in the Ekaterinburg city of Russia. Ekaterinburg is the geographical center of the Russian Federation and the Capital of the Urals, one of the largest commercial, scientiQic and industrial cosmopolitan centers.

Ekateringburg has well developed infrastructure, modern transport system, technoparks and other facilities. Speaking at the occasion, Alexander G. Visokinskiy said that Russia never hosted an Expo be-

fore and for the first time, it was going to organize World Expo 2025 designed as a Smart City that would live on after the event. He said more than 140 countries will participate in the Expo that would be the largest international event covering an area of 555 hectares.

He said the Expo would provide a good platform for demonstration of technical, technological, industrial, cultural and social achievements. He said the Expo would provide Pakistani business community a good opportunity to demonstrate their good quality products and enhance their business prospect.

They would also be able to hold business negotiations and strengthen cooperation with international participants.

Speaking at the occasion, Sheikh Amir Waheed, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & In-

dustry said that Pakistan and Russia enjoyed good relations, but given the size of the economies of both countries, their bilateral trade of less than $500 million was not encouraging. He said both countries were doing trade in limited items and they should focus on diversification of trade to achieve mutually beneficial results. He said Russia has good expertise in energy, engineering and other sectors and it could help Pakistan in many fields of economy. He said both countries have also good potential to develop strong defense cooperation. He said Pakistan could provide Russia better market access to South Asia, Middle East, Africa and other countries. Similarly, Pakistan could achieve better market access to Central Asia through Russia.

Thus their close cooperation would be mutually benefit for them.

this platform. He said ICCI was negotiating with the government to establish SEZ in Islamabad on publicprivate partnership model and Dacheng Dentons should share its expertise with ICCI in developing a successful model of the said SEZ. Muhammad Naveed, Senior Vice President, ICCI thanked the Chinese delegation for visiting ICCI and stressed that China and Pakistan should develop strong cooperation between their SMEs to achieve mutually beneQicial outcomes.

uAE approves full list of penalties under VAt he UAE cabinet has approved the list of administrative penalties that will be imposed on businesses for violations of the tax laws. Each fine or penalty will be no less than AED500 and no more than triple the value of the tax on the transaction in question. The following lists the administrative penalties for violations related to tax procedures, VAT, and excise tax. 1. Failure to keep the required records specified by the tax procedures law and the tax law. AED10,000 for the first time. AED50,000 for each repeat violation.

2. Failure to submit the required records in Arabic when requested by the Authority AED20,000 3. Failure to submit a registration application within the timeframe specified by the tax law. –CB Report

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Incomplete details delay tax refunds: FBR official tells traders HYDERABAD: The Chief Commissioner Income Tax Inland Revenue Hyderabad Naheed Azhar has encouraged the business community and traders to pay taxes and offered complete cooperation in this regard.

Speaking at a reception hosted by Hyderabad Chamber of Small Trade and Small Industries (HCSTSI) here, the official also spoke at the length about the issue of tax refunds. Azhar said the taxpayers often did not submit complete details which were required while filing the tax returns owing to which the process was mostly delayed.

Thursday, February 1, 2018

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‘StcE another milestone for checking proliferation of dual-use goods’ GILGIT BALTISTAN tArIQ DErYA

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component of SAFE is the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) focusing on partnership between government and business for securing business environment through getting AEO compliant and reducing the documentary footprint.

In his message on the International Customs Day, Ali Raza Hinjra, Collector GB, said the Strategic Trade Controll Enforcement (STCE) regime has been adopted by the World Customs Organization (WCO) member states which is another milestone for controlling the proliferation of dual-use goods transiting through supplychains that can be used in the manufacture of goods detrimental to national security.

The WCO is a global coalition of 169 Customs administrations covering over 99% of internal trade.

Headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, the WCO comprises supplychain security requirements for global Customs authorities. WCO members have created Framework of Standards with the purpose of “Securing and Facilitating Global Trade” (SAFE), he said.

Talking on Customs Trade Partnership against Terrorism (C-TPAT), the Collector said that the US-led container security regime initiated by the Department of Homeland Se-

curity (DHS) allows around 6,000 US major freight importers to participate in an effort to monitor all shipments entering the US. The CTPAT is a voluntary conformity sup-

plychain security system directed by the US Customs & Border Protection–A DHS agency. Improving hemispheric port safety and security standards requires a combina-

tion of modernizing policies from WCO member states with a greater public-private partnership and cooperative involvement of all the supplychain actors, he added.

Afu clears shipments of rs1730.835m during ongoing fY 2017-18 MULTAN

IMrAN ALI

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ir Freight Unit of Multan Customs is promoting export of South Punjab through its best clearance facilitation services.

Multan International Airport was established with a purpose to boost and facilitate the business community of south Punjab. Air Freight Unit of Multan Interna-

tional Airport is boosting the customs revenue through swift clearance facility of import and export shipments. Multan International Airport has cargo complex with a storage capacity of 10,000 tons goods for the importers and exporters. Air Freight Unit of Multan Customs has handled export shipments of Rs1730.835 million during the Qirst six months of on-going economic year 2017-18 .

Multan Customs has handled almost 206 various export GD,s of vegetables , fruits, clothes, leather and other commodities of worth Rs538.192 million in December

Published by M S Raza Off# 42, 3rd Flr Gull Plaza M.A Road Karachi, Printed by (Ibne Hassan Offset Printing Press, Shop No. 33 to 36 , Hockey Stadium, Karachi).

from Air Freight Unit of Multan International Airport. State of the art cargo complex has also been built with the storage capacity of 10,000 tons and preservation of perishable vegetables and fruits.

The Customs Collectorate observed boost in the clearance of export shipments handled through Air Freight Unit. Multan International Airport was extended with a purpose to boost trade of South Punjab and Air Freight Unit is facilitating its business community for speedy clearance of their shipments to desired destination.