Jan 30 layout 1

Daily on www.customsbulletin.com

Find us on

pAkiStAn’S fiRSt inDeptH newSpApeR on cuStoMS

Daily

Vol 1 Issue No. 285

Karachi, Sat January 30, 2016

ISLAMABAD

M ARSHAD

www.customsbulletin.com

T

he Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, proposed uniformed custom duty on import of vegetables and fruits from all four neighboring countries; Iran, Afghanistan, China and India.

However, the committee left the authority of Qixation of rate of customs duty on the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

Senate Finance Panel met here with a huge

agenda for discussion.

Main agenda items included import of various vegetables and fruits from Iran affecting the local farmers in Balochistan living near Iranian border. A proposed agreement will be signed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the conclusion of 10th review of the extended funds facility program with particular reference to prior-action and commitments of the government as well as Tax Amnesty Scheme and tax exemption announced by the government and its impacts on economy.

On request of the FBR, committee decided to defer discussion on

Price Rs. 14.00

agenda items related to proposed agreement with IMF as well as Tax Amnesty Scheme due to ongoing talks with IMF and passage of the Tax Amnesty Scheme by the National Assembly.

BrieQing on the issue, Chairman FBR Nisar Muhammad Khan said that 20 percent customs duty had been levied on the import of fruits to safeguard the interests of local farmers, however, no customs duty had been imposed on vegetables.

However, import of vegetables from Iran has reduced by 91 percent in the six months of the current Qiscal year as compared to corresponding era of the previous Qiscal year. However, there was a slight increase in the volume of import of fruit from Iran.

Asif Marghoob’s Customs Intelligence seizes 60 laptops worth Rs 2m

Haroon awards certificates to officials on International Customs Day

ANF seizes 2.31-ton drugs worth Rs 5.66 billion in 9 raids

Customs officials leave for India to attend 21st CLBC meeting

Finance Minister Ayesha lauds LCCI work on ease of doing business

Custom Intelligence smuggling unit has seized 60 laptops worth Rs 2m | See pAge 02 |

A function was held at Margalla Dry Port to mark the annual celebrations | See pAge 03 |

The ANF has seized Rs 5.66 billion worth of 2.31 tons drugs | See pAge 04 |

Customs Central Region chief collector and collector of customs Lahore Preventive | See pAge 12 |

Dr. Ayesha Ghous Pasha has lauded efforts of the LCCI for preparing a reform | See pAge 09 |

2

www.customsbulletin.com

IHC summons Customs Appellate Tribunal on Feb 2 Saturday, January 30, 2016

National

ISLAMABAD: Customs Appellate Tribunal will contend on February 2 regarding its earlier given decisions which have been challenged in the before the Islamabad High Court. In this regard, an official letter was issued by the IHC, conveying the tribunal to take part in court’s proceedings pertaining to two customs references. M/s. Al-Haj Enterprise had filed the reference at IHC in which the tribunal would contend company’s submission.

The court letter further stated: “you (the tribunal) are hereby summoned to appear in this court (IHC) in person or by a pleader duly instructed and able to answer all court’s questions relating to the matter on 2/02/2016.”

Asif Marghoob’s customs intelligence seizes 60 laptops worth Rs 2 million

customs Appellate tribunal to resume hearing of cases on Monday, tuesday ISLAMABAD

nAeeM uLLAH tARiQ

KARACHI

ABDuL ReHMAn

www.customsbulletin.com

www.customsbulletin.com

T

T

he Custom Intelligence and Investigation-antismuggling unit has seized 60 laptops worth Rs 2 million during an action. On the directions of Customs Intelligence Director Asif Marghoob, Additional Director Nadeem Ahsan formed a team comprising Superintendent Mahmud Abbas, Deputy Superintendent Rana Insram, Munwar Ali, and Khuram Saeed to hold the smuggled items.

The team raided a building near Regal Chowk, and recovered 60 laptops of assorted brands, which were conQiscated after Qinding smuggled, while further investigation is underway. Additional Directors Nadeem Ahsan and Mahmud Abbas said that intelligence teams were more active against the smuggling, adding that they have conQiscated non-duty paid vehicles, diesel, engine oil and other items during antismuggling operations.

Meanwhile, Custom Intelligence and Investigation has seized 100 gas cylinders of foreign origin SF-6 (4500 kilograms). The market value of the seized goods are Rs 30 million. According to detail, on the directions of Director Custom Intelligence Asif Margoob Siddiqui, Additional Director Nadeem Ahsan and Assistant Director Kaleemullah

wo division benches of the Customs Appellate Tribunal will resume hearing of postponed cases at Islamabad office. Both benches are likely to hear around 15 cases. The tribunal had rescheduled the hearing of tje cases as the chairman customs appellate tribunal could not reach Islamabad last week due to delaying flight from Lahore.

According to details, a division bench comprising of Chairman, Ghulam Murtaza Bhatti and Member Technical, M Nazim Saleem, would hear eight customs postponed cases on coming Monday and Tuesday under the new schedule.

Another division bench comprising the chairman and other member Technical, M Nasir Khan would hear seven cases on the same days mentioned above. Former DB would hear cases, which were filed by national institute of health, Islamabad, Expanded Programe on Immunization, Fahad Industries, Sanaullah, Abid Butt, Malik Jehangir Ahmed, M Mnsoor and M/S Iqbal & Co. Six of these cases had been filed against collector customs, Islamabad, except Malik Jehangir and National Institute of Health.

formed a team headed by Superintendent Mahmood Abbas to conQiscate gas cylinders, which were not only causing loss to the national exchequer but also imposing negative impact on local traders.

The team comprising Deputy Su-

perintendent Rana Insram Rabbani Munwar Ali, and Khuram Saeed raided on a railway godown and recovered 100 cylinders of SF-6 gas and arrested two persons who were identiQied as Shahid Amjad and ShaQiq Awan

Talking to Customs Today, Deputy Superintendent Rana Insram said that they were performing duties in a fair-way, adding that Customs Intelligence ASO will not let the smugglers for carrying out their heinous activities.

customs foils bid to smuggle 3.2kg heroin to Saudi Arabia

T

ISLAMABAD

M fAiZAn

www.customsbulletin.com

he Pakistan Customs foiled a bid to smuggle a huge quantity of heroin worth millions of rupees to Saudi Arabia from Pakistan here at Benazir Bhutto International Airport.

As per details, Islamabad Customs Deputy Collector Shahid Jan received information that an attempt will be made to smuggle

heroin to Riyadh on a Qlight that will go via Muscat. Following the tip-off, the customs ofQicials stepped up the checking of luggage and passengers that led to the recovery of 3.2 kilogram of heroin from the luggage of a passenger namely as Asif Mehmood and resident of Khushab. The value of the illegal drugs is estimated at almost Rs 22 million. Talking to Customs Today, Shahid Jan said that accused person has been arrested for further interrogation, adding that further arrests were possible from

Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in this regard. Meanwhile, The Customs authorities deputed at Benazir Bhutto International Airport have foiled an attempt to smuggle smart phones from Dubai to Pakistan. The market value of the seized smart phones are Rs 20 million. Sources told Customs Today that Deputy Collector Shahid Jan received credible information that a huge quantity of smart phones are being smuggled through Qlight No. EK-612 which is arriving from Dubai.

3

www.customsbulletin.com

Hyderabad Customs destroys two illegal petrol pumps KARACHI: Customs Collectorate Hyderabad has destroyed two illegal petrol pumps in Latifabad and also seized thousand of liters illegal Iranian petrol.

Sources told Customs Today that after receiving information about smuggling activities, the Customs Collectorate directed anti-smuggling squad to take action against illegal petrol pumps. The squad raided Latifabad and destroyed two illegal petrol pumps and confiscated thousand of liters Iranian petrol. Customs Collectorate Hyderabad had also destroyed many illegal petrol pumps and impounded smuggled petrol the previous month. A crackdown against smugglers and illegal businesses will be continued.

Barter system with Iran

excise seals 25 commercial properties for alleged tax evasion

Saturday January 30, 2016

National

commerce Ministry examines proposal of Balochistan traders

LAHORE

M iMRAn MeHAR

www.customsbulletin.com

he Excise and taxation Department has sealed 25 commercial properties of property tax defaulters in different areas of the city. Sources told Customs Today that Excise and Taxation Department has started a crackdown against property tax defaulters and started sealing the properties after sending final notices to thousands of defaulters. Director General Excise, Akram Ashraf Gondal has directed all officers to recover taxes on time and also take action against defaulters of property tax and token tax. During the action of the Excise Department in various regions, more than Rs 2 million of outstanding tax was recovered.

T

faisalabad fiA arrests two human traffickers FAISALABAD

iQRA SHeHZADi

www.customsbulletin.com

he Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has arrested two human traffickers who are involved in illegal business of sending innocent people abroad. Sources told Customs Today that Assistant Director FIA Ch Mazarullah received information that some persons are extorting huge amounts from innocent people by promising to send them abroad. He formed a team and raided Kohinoor Plaza and arrested two human smugglers who were later identified as Zulqurnain son of Muhammad Zulfiqar and Muhammad Khayyum son of Shair Ali. The FIA team also recovered passports. forged stamps, medical certificates, fake visas and other important documents from them. The FIA has registered a case of human smuggling against the suspects and further investigations are in progress.

T

ISLAMABAD

M ARSHAD

www.customsbulletin.com

T

he Ministry of Commerce (MoC) is examining a proposal to permit traders from Balochistan to carry out trade with Iran on barter system. The Prime Minister’s Secretariat had referred this proposal to the MoC for further deliberations.

Sources told Customs Today that a delegation of Balochistan Zameendar Action Committee held a meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir and discussed the issue. Sources said that the delegation sought permission for trade with Iran on barter system. They also sought exemptions from electronic Form-E of the FBR in this regard. The FBR introduced electronic E-Form facility in WeBOC on November 2 last year to facilitate exporters in obtaining their electronic E-Forms from authorized banks along with an intervening period for Qiling requisite applications using their WeBOC login/password.

Electronic Form-E (EFE) module has been developed in consultation with relevant stakeholders and incorporated in the Pakistan Customs’ electronic system called Web based One Customs (WeBOC).

The source said that after receiving the said proposal, MoC had started examining process. In this regard, MoC ofQicials have held de-

tailed discussions with State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and other stakeholders.

The MoC has observed that proposal was practicable because of unavailability of banking channels between Iran and Pakistan for smooth money transactions due international sanctions on Iran, which now have been lifted. This hurdle has been forcing the trading communities of the both the

fBR introduced electronic e-form facility in weBoc on nov 2 last year to facilitate exporters in obtaining their electronic e-forms from authorized banks along with an intervening period for filing requisite applications using their weBoc login/password

Large scale reshuffling in customs likely KARACHI

cuStoMS BuLLetin RepoRt www.customsbulletin.com

L

arge scale reshufQling of senior cadre ofQicers in Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is likely to be expected in next week or so, it is learnt here.

The reliable sources informed Customs Today that the FBR wings

including Pakistan Customs, Inland Revenue Services (IRS), Customs Intelligence and Investigation and Regional Taxes OfQices (RTOs) would experience major reshufQling in upcoming days. The sources informed that the reshufQling of senior cadre ofQicers of Pakistan Customs including of Grade (BS)-20 and Grade-21 would be happened in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. As far as Custom House-Karachi is concerned, the ofQicers at the level of Chief Collector, collectors, directors would likely to

be reshufQled. “The Chairman FBR Nisar Muhammad and Member Customs Nasir Masroor are wanted to produce some more efQicient results as far as the revenue generation, revenue target and elimination of tax evasion and smuggling activities are concerned”, sources added. The Prime Minister Secretariat and Federal Ministry of Finance are also extended its full cooperation and support to all FBR wings in order to uproot the corruption, tax evasion and smuggling activities.

countries to use informal banking channels for money transactions.

The source said that earlier, the government had granted permission to Pakistani traders residing in the areas adjacent to Afghan border to trade with Afghan traders in Pakistani currency rather than in the US dollar. This facility has result in better coordination among traders across the border as well as enhanced business activities; both import and export.

customs court hears 16 cases on thursday n the Special Court of Customs Taxation and Anti-Smuggling, 16 different cases were scheduled for hearing. On Thursday during court proceedings, the customs court accepts the bail plea of an accused Ghulam Ali who was allegedly involved in smuggling of different items, including toys. Ghulam Ali was in jail on judicial remand while the customs court accepted his bail against surety bonds and cash guarantese.

I

4

www.customsbulletin.com

FFC earned Rs 16.77 billion in 2015 KARACHI: Fauji Fertiliser Company Ltd (FFC) has posted 7.7 per cent year-on-year decrease in its profits for fourth quarter of calendar year 2015 as the company announced Rs4.82 billion unconsolidated profit-after-tax (PAT), translating into earnings per share (eps) at Rs3.80.

However, the company’s earnings increased by 31pc quarter-on-quarter, taking the 2015 earnings to Rs16.77 billion and eps at Rs13.18. The results were generally thought to be above market expectations. The board also declared final cash dividend at Rs3.42 per share, taking the 2015 total to Rs11.86 per share.

Saturday, January 30, 2016

Business

pSX gains 109pts to reach 31302pts KARACHI

cuStoMS BuLLetin RepoRt www.customsbulletin.com

T

he Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) Friday remained in bullish note, as the Karachi Stock Exchange-100 index gained 109.19 points to take the tally to 31302.92 points level at closing.

The stocks recorded the highest trading level of 31461.52 points and lowest level of 31193.73 points, with the volume of 106,285,120 shares, having Rs 8,043,968,970 billion value. As many as 306 companies were active; of which 157 advanced, 132 declined and

engro foods announces Rs 561m profit for Q4 KARACHI

cuStoMS BuLLetin RepoRt www.customsbulletin.com

ngro Foods has announced Rs561 million profit-after-tax (PAT) for fourth quarter of calendar year 2015with earnings per share (eps) at Rs0.73, down 12pc year-onyear and taking full-year PAT to Rs3.16 billion (eps: Rs4.13), up 3.5 times year-on-year. The results came in significantly below consensus due to 574 basis points sequential drop in gross margins to 17.4pc in fourth quarter of the corresponding year.

E

17remained unchanged.

The three top traded companies were K-Electric Limited with a volume of 11,047,500 and price per share of 6.94 (-0.10), Pakistan Elektron XR with a volume 10,296,000 of price per share of 61.62 (2.93), and Fauji Cement with a volume 9,490,000 of price per share of 38.89 (0.84). The top three gainers were Unilever Foods with price per share 609o, Pakistan Tobacco with price per share of 1346.88 and Colgate Palmolive price per share of 1550. The top three losers were Hinopak Motor with price per share of1032.95, Ferozsons (Lab) with price per share of 959.11 and Exide Pakistan price per share of 788.93. Until mid day, KSE-100 Index was at 31388.64 with a change of 194.91 and volume of 51,950,870 shares. High

ISLAMABAD

cuStoMS BuLLetin RepoRt www.customsbulletin.com

ISLAMABAD

T

www.customsbulletin.com

he Anti-Narcotic Force (ANF) has seized Rs 5.66 billion worth of 2.31 tons drugs, including 2,273kg hashish, 31.7kg heroin and 6kg opium in nine operations in different cities and arrested 12 drug trafQickers including two foreigners and impounded eight vehicles.

According to details, the ANF Rawalpindi acting on a tipoff intercepted two cars including a Suzuki

he Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has issued directives for starting an inquiry into the illegal appointments to the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA).

The PAC, under the chairmanship of Opposition leader in National Assembly Syed Khurshid Shah, met and reviewed audit paras of the Cabinet Division for the fiscal year of 2013-14.

The committee directed Cabinet Secretary Raja Hassan Abbas to initiate an inquiry into the alleged irregular appointment of 20 contract employees to the OGRA and submit a report within a month. During the meeting, the OGRA director general informed the committee that 20 people were appointed to the authority in 201112 on a contract basis when there was a ban on recruitments to the authority. He maintained that the payment of Rs3.11 million as pay and allowances to these people was declared irregular. He said that OGRA also released Rs1.3 million to a consultant who was appointed in violation of rules and regulations. On this, the PAC chairman directed the cabinet secretary to submit a report on legal powers of the OGRA to the PAC at the next meeting.

T and low were 31461.52 and 31193.73 respectively. Total volume traded in the market was 69,127,220 shares

with 244 total traded companies out of which 136 were up, 90 were down and 18 were unchanged.

Anf seizes 2.31 tonnes of drugs worth Rs 5.66 billion in 9 raids cuStoMS BuLLetin RepoRt

inquiry into 20 illegal ogRA appointments ordered

FX and Corolla GLI at GT Road, near Attock City, recovering 12kg hashish and 5kg opium concealed in the cars. Three persons on board, identiQied as Kamran, resident of Peshawar, Ejaz Alam and Abdul Wali, both residents of Gilgit, were also held during the operation.

The ANF Peshawar acting on a tipoff intercepted an oil tanker near Taro Jabba, GT Road, Nowhsehra. However, driver of the vehicle managed to flee from the scene taking advantage of the darkness, leaving the vehicle unattended behind. The ANF team took the vehi-

cle into custody and recovered 2,020kg charas from the vehicle.

In another operation, the ANF Peshawar road-check team captured a Suzuki Pick-Up near new toll plaza, Indus Highway, Kohat and recovered 37.2kg charas from the secret cavities of the vehicle.

An occupant of the vehicle Hasham, resident of Khyber Agency, was arrested on the spot.

Further, the ANF team also seized a Toyota Corolla car at Havelian Bridge, GT Road, Haripur and recovered 1.2kg opium and 1.2kg charas concealed in it.

unDp, uk announce support programme for fAtA ISLAMABAD

T

cuStoMS BuLLetin RepoRt www.customsbulletin.com

he United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development have announced further support for Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). The Fata government has signed a new agreement with the UNDP and the UK’s Department for

International Development, at a high-proQile event organised at the Governor’s House, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday. This new partnership aims to support the Government of Fata’s reform programme and includes the launch of the Governor’s Strategic Support Unit, said a press release here. Since March 2015, more than 115,000 families (38 percent of those displaced) have returned to their homes in Fata, where they are faced

with damaged infrastructure and minimal access to basic services. The United Kingdom has contributed over GBP 10.25 million GBP 6.25 million through UNDP – to improve governance of the recovery process, provide direct support to returning families to rebuild basic services and livelihoods, and to plan for longer term reform. An essential element of this support is the establishment of the Governor’s Strategic Support Unit, which will provide additional

capacity within the Government to help deliver some of the most important aspects of its reform agenda.

This Unit, launched today, will help the Fata Secretariat and other Fata departments deliver major reform in at least four key sectors of government including education, health, economic development and Fata reforms through additional problem solving and analytical capacity. With support from the UK, UNDP will also provide technical assistance to Fata

Secretariat to develop concrete roadmaps for reform in the complex area of rule of law and justice, including speciQic reforms in local governance, law enforcement, municipal services, judicial services and land settlements. In addition, about 300 communities will be engaged in government-led rehabilitation efforts, with 25 community spaces rehabilitated for recreational and other productive activities with active participation by Fata’s youth.

www.customsbulletin.com

ADVERTISEMENT

5

6

www.customsbulletin.com

Saturday, January 30, 2015

www.customsbulletin.com

ISLAMABAD M ARSHAD www.customsbulletin.com

t

he Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue will discuss the levy of additional sales tax on CNG Industry today (Friday). Member Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Inland Revenue-Policy Rehmatullah Khan Wazir will defend the levy of said sales tax on CNG industry.

Government levied sales tax on CNG industry through a presidential order promulgating Sales Tax Amendment Ordinance, 2014. As per the ordinance, the rate of sales tax was imposed at 17 percent, covering net “value addition” tax on CNG stations on the basis of sale price Qixed by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra). In December last year, the CNG stations decided to pass on the burden of outstanding sales tax payment to the tune of Rs 4.1 billion to general public.

The CNG industry also announced to increase the prices of CNG in order to cover up those outstanding which had already been charged on the sale of natural gas through their outlets A well-placed ofQicial source at FBR told Customs Today that standing committee had sought brieQing from the FBR along with reasons for the imposition of said sales tax on CNG industry along with possible impacts on the industry as well as CNG consumers.

In this regard, the source said that Inland Revenue departments had prepared answers of the possible questions likely to be asked by the members of the committee due course of discussion on the said matter.

Moreover, the source said that committee would also get a brieQing from the Finance Ministry about working paper submitted by the Competition Commission of Pakistan regarding amendments in the Competition Commission Act along with possible response of the ministry to the said working paper. In December 2015, the source added that the CCP recommended to the federal and provincial governments to amend the registration laws for Qirms to minimise potential risk of deceptive marketing.

In this regard CCP sought suitable amendments in their territorial jurisdictions of the provincial and federal governments with regard to the Partnership Act, 1932, the Societies Registration Act, 1860, the Voluntary Social Welfare Agencies (Registration & Control) Ordinance, 1961, the Trusts Act, 1882 and the Co-operative Societies Act, 1925 so as to bar registration of potentially deceptive Qirm names with an aim to minimising the potential for deceptive marketing. The Senate Committee will also discuss the 1stQuarterly report of the State Bank of Pakistan on

state of national economy in today’s meeting because the report had shown some concerns on lower growth in tax collection, lower paced privatisation process of loss making state owned enterprises, dwindling exports as well as unsatisfactory state of foreign direct investment (FDI).

The agenda for the said meeting of the committee also reveals that committee will also discuss the issue of borrowings from World Bank and Asian Development Bank to the non governmental organizations working in Balochistan.

bout a y r t s y i tted b ce Min finan aper submi ission mm ng p worki petition co rding a m the co akistan reg the in of p ments ission Act d n e am comm response n o i t i t e e comp ith possibl the said w along ministry to er of the orking pap w

7

8

www.customsbulletin.com

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

peace and economy

p

eace, security and liberal economic policies are a key to create investment-friendly climate in the country. Malaysia was reeling under utter poverty until early 80s, but is now ranking 6th in Asia and 20th in the world and its development rate is higher than the countries like Australia, France and South Korea. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is also keen to develop Pakistan into an economic tiger but fine words butter no parsnips. During his stay in Davos, he has invited the Swiss and international businessmen to invest in energy, telecom, infrastructure, urban development, agro-industry and textiles sectors in Pakistan which offers exciting opportunities for investment. He said that Pakistan is a business friendly country where the foreign investors feel safe and secure as the country is modern, progressive and forward-looking. However, back home, a disaster struck the nation in Charsadda in which dozens of innocent human lives fell prey to terrorist activity.

Though the overall situation in Pakistan is normal, may be better than many apparently peaceful countries, but isolated incidents of terrorism send wrong signals to the world. If prime minister wants development of the economy, he should liberalize the financial and economic policies, relax tax system and simplify the procedure for foreign investment. However, the prime minister should also strictly control the extremist elements in the country no matter they are religious or nonreligious. The trouble makers should be fixed with an iron hand. The other big hurdle in the development of the country is corruption, especially in the official cadre.

Pakistan is listed in one of the most corrupt countries in the world and it is a stigma on the face of the nation. The prime minister says that investment incentives are diverse and business friendly in Pakistan and the primary objective of the government is to create an environment conducive for investment inflows. He says that the government offers a liberal investment policy, which allows 100 percent equity ownership, full repatriation of capital, taxbreaks, and customs duty concessions on import of machinery and raw materials.

Journey towards emerging market A

LAHORE

DR AftAB AfZAL

www.customstoday.com

ccording to newspaper reports, Pakistan is likely to receive foreign portfolio investment of $500 million if the MSCI, which is All-Country World Index, reclassiQies it as an emerging market in its upcoming annual review in May. Experts believe that Pakistan would attract a signiQicantsize of foreign investment after MSCI upgrades its status from frontier market to emerging market. Foreign investors are always ready to invest anytime anywhere in the world, provided they are offered attractive beneQits and security of their capital and their lives. Pakistan is weighing options

to ofQload its loss-making enterprises which are causing billions of rupees losses to the national exchequer, but it needs structural reforms and national consensus to offer privatisation of loss-making enterprises to the foreign investors. If the government wants to work as a facilitator of business activities and not as a business enterprise, it will have to introduce economic and Qinancial policies to attract foreign direct investment.

The foreign donor agencies are also pressing the government to rid the country of loss-making organizations, including Pakistan International Airline and Pakistan Steel Mills. However, according to an IMF ofQicial, the government is reluctant to privatize the power

distribution companies whereas the country is incurring millions of rupees line losses every year.

The government is preparing to negotiate the 10th review of the economy for the period OctoberDecember 2015 with the IMF. In the words of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, the country has met Qive conditions of the $6.2 billion loan programme. The mediumterm outlook of the Pakistani economy is positive as the difQicult portion of reforms has already been implemented. However, a political consensus is also important to give legal cover to the government measures. It is important to note that many foreign investors have shown interest in the purchase of the state owned enterprises, including the

PIA. The fund has set June as the deadline for the privatization of the national carrier.

Whether the privatization of the state owned enterprises brings windfall or not, the government must ensure transparency and norms of justice in the sell-off process. The government should also encourage the local investors to buy the state owned entities rather than offering the national assets to foreign investors. The government agencies should also prefer the national interest over everything and avoid witch-hunting of the business community. The IMF, the World Bank or any other donor agency should have no right to dictate its conditions or impose its decision on this country.

9

www.customsbulletin.com

Facebook clears $1b for quarter NEW YORK: The social network released its earnings for its fourth quarter and all of 2015 on Wednesday, revealing in a presentation that it makes an average of US$3.73 for each user around the world. In the United States and Canada, that figure is US$13.54, up from US$10.49 from the third quarter. That is largely thanks to an increase in mobile and video views – an impressive statistic, considering that both are relatively new ventures for Facebook. The company also reported steady, if not spectacular, user growth – it now has 1.59 billion monthly active users, up 14 per cent from the same time in 2014.

Still, in its fourth quarter, Facebook made more than US$1 billion in profit, a first for the social network.

And it made US$5.8 billion in revenue, a 52 per cent increase compared with the same period in 2014, easily beating analysts’ estimates.

punjab finance Minister Ayesha lauds Lcci work on ease of doing business unjab Finance Minister Dr. Ayesha Ghous Pasha has lauded efforts of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) for preparing a reform agenda in respect of ease of doing business in Pakistan.

While talking to the LCCI Senior Vice President Almas Hyder here at her office, Dr. Ayesha Ghous Pasha said that the LCCI is supplementing the government efforts aimed at economic revival of the country. She said that Government of Punjab, in collaboration with World Bank, is in the process

P

of making economic reforms in the province. The minister also threw light on the economic growth of the country and shared many economic milestones achieved by the Punjab government. She informed the LCCI senior vice president that because of untiring efforts of the Punjab government, province is rapidly turning into a hub of the investment, trade and economic activities and became top priority of the foreign investors. LCCI Senior Vice President Almas Hyder said that the objective of preparing report on ease of doing business in Pakistan is to identify the hurdles coming in the way of businesses and to suggest feasible solutions to the government. He said that the economic signals are not as good as being portrayed. A recent report has revealed that Pakistan has further slipped down as far as ease of doing business is concerned. He said that cost of doing business is one of the major hurdles hampering the growth of all sectors of economy whether it is manufacturing or agriculture. He said that Pakistani merchandise are best of the best in the world but fast losing their due place in the international market because of high input cost in Pakistan. —CB Report

Saturday January 30, 2016

Chambers

turkish delegation underscores need for signing pakistan-turkey ftA M KARACHI

cuStoMS BuLLetin RepoRt www.customsbulletin.com

embers of a delegation from Turkey underscored the need for signing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with a view to boost the existing trade ties between Pakistan and Turkey.

Exchanging views during their visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the delegation members, representing Turkish electrical appliances sector, expressed keenness to share technology and undertake joint ventures with their counterparts in Pakistan. The Turkish delegation, which was led by Dr. Guven Uckan Vice President of Electrical Electronics and Services Exporters Association (EESEA) Turkey, comprised of Mehmet Kavakhoglu Vice President EESEA, Atilla Eren Member Management Board EESEA and Hakan Ozturk Member Management Board EESEA while Murat Mustu Commercial Attaché of Consulate General of Turkey also accompanied the delegation.

Younus Muhammad Bashir President KCCI, Zia Ahmed Khan Senior

Vice President KCCI, Muhammad Naeem Sharif Vice President KCCI, Muhammad Ibrahim Kasumbi Former SVP KCCI, Muhammad Idrees Chairman KCCI Special Committee for My Karachi Exhibition and KCCI Managing Committee members were also present at the meeting.

Speaking on the occasion, Murat Mustu Commercial Attaché of Turkish Consulate in Karachi informed that it was the second delegation as a similar delegation from Jewelers Association of Turkey also visited Karachi last year which succeeded in building goods business relations with their counterparts in Pakistan.

Commenting on production of electrical appliances and machineries being produced in Turkey, he

particularly mentioned that high quality textile machineries were being produced in Turkey and the same were being exported to the European Union. These products were much better as compared to similar machineries being produced

by China, he claimed, adding that these machineries and electrical equipment can also be exported to Pakistan but the Custom duty rates were a bit high which can only be reduced by signing the FTA which was currently being negotiated. Leader of the delegation, Dr. Guven Uckan said that Turkish companies want to enhance business with Pakistan by holding business-to-business meetings and seek ways on how to do business together. “We want to

‘pak-Spain bilateral trade to reach $1b’

S

ISLAMABAD

cuStoMS BuLLetin RepoRt www.customsbulletin.com

pain is the 7th largest trading partner of Pakistan in the European Union and both the countries have good potential to improve bilateral trade and economic relations, said HE Mr Carlos Morales, Ambassador of Spain, during an interaction with business community at the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

He said that Pakistan has all the positive things, including young population, big consumers market and natural resources to attract foreign investors but biased and wrong perception of the country in outside world was the major hurdle in realizing its full economic potentials. He said about 500 Spanish companies were doing business in UAE and many were taking interest in Iran

and India. However, he said Pakistani business community should reach out to the outside world to show the potential of their products that would help in attracting more investment and promoting trade. He said $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor was a highly positive development as it has generated lot of interest in foreign investors to look at Pakistan with more interest.

He said bilateral trade between Pakistan and Spain was on the rise, especially after the grant of EU’s GSP Plus status to Pakistan, as it improved 43% during 2014 and 25% during 2015% and added that twoway trade was expected to reach US$ 1-billion mark during this year.

However, he said there was lot more potential to enhance it for which every Pakistani has to play role for image building of the country. He said both countries should focus on

diversiQication to improve trade and identiQied IT as another potential area of mutual cooperation. He said ICCI should take a sector-speciQic business delegation to Spain and assured that his Embassy would cooperate to make its visit successful.

In his welcome address, Atif Ikram Sheikh, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that Pakistan and Spain enjoyed cordial relations since 1951, but the dedicated efforts were required from both sides to further improve two-way trade. He said Pakistan’s major exports to Spain included some textiles products while Pakistan’s major imports from Spain included all sorts of machinery & parts, chemical materials & products, iron & steel etc. which showed that bilateral trade was conQined to few items and stressed for focusing on areas to further promote bilateral trade.

do business by undertaking joint ventures either in your country or in our country and we are looking forward to sharing technology with Pakistan”, he added. He hoped that FTA between the two countries will soon be inked, which would surely create a win-win situation for the business communities of the two brotherly countries. Earlier, while welcoming the delegation, Younus Muhammad Bashir President KCCI said that it was heartening to note that numerous delegations representing various sectors of Turkish economy have been visiting KCCI from time to time with a view to look for opportunities of enhancing trade and investment between the two brotherly countries.

Sk Hynix profits slash by half in Q4 outh Korean semiconductor giant SK Hynix’s profits have slashed by half in fourth quarter.

The company’s profits decreased mainly due t slowing global demand for personal computers and smartphones, it said Tuesday.

Global PC sales last year hit an eight-year low and sales of high-end smartphones slowed as gadget makers increasingly shifted focus to fast -growing mid- or low-end markets.

As demand for PCs as well as the handsets powered by expensive chips declined, average prices of SK Hynix’s dynamic random access memory (DRAM) commonly used for PCs and NAND flash chips used for mobile devices fell 10 and 15 percent respectively in the fourth quarter.—CB Report

S

10

www.customsbulletin.com

Hong Kong dollar recovers but yuan remains soft Saturday January 30, 2016

World

HONG KONG: The Hong Kong dollar recovered on Wednesday morning while the yuan fell for the second day in a row, with analysts saying it remains on a weakening trend.

The Hong Kong dollar traded at 7.7889 per US dollar at 10.10 am on Wednesday, up 0.06 per cent from Tuesday, when at one stage it was down to 7.8011.

The local currency is trading more stably this week after a bumpy ride last week when it hit 7.8294, an eightand-a-half-year low. The Hong Kong dollar bounced back after some big buying orders, which currency traders believed was the Hong Kong Monetary Authority taking action to prevent the currency from falling too low, pushed the currency to trade above 7.80 level from Thursday of last week.

Saudi customs’ revenues increase in 2015 RIYADH

cuStoMS BuLLetin RepoRt www.customsbulletin.com

S

audi Customs has achieved a remarkable increase in its customs revenues for 2015 totaled 29.85 billion riyals, of which actual revenues amounting to 26.79 billion riyals, while the state bore nearly three billion riyals.

In a statement today, the advisor and spokesman for Saudi Customs, Esa Al-Esa said that in 2014, the total customs revenues amounted to 27.9 billion riyals, of which 24.5 billion riyals were actual revenues and 3.4 billion riyals compared to what the state bore in favor of the customs.

He pointed out that analyzing this shows that what has been achieved of customs revenues in 2015 increased by 12.5% compared to 2014, and for the actual revenues, they increased by almost 9.2% de-

govt mulls cash incentives for pharma exports he government is planning to give the pharmaceutical industry a boost with cash incentives for exports. “I can assure you that a cash incentive on export will be given to your industry very soon,” Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said yesterday. Six sectors, headed by the pharmaceuticals industry, and including ship building, leather, furniture, jute and agro products have been earmarked for export promotion.

Tofail was speaking at the inauguration of the 8th Asia Pharma Expo 2016 at International Convention City Bashundhara (ICCB) in the capital. The minister said the government had set two targets in its seventh five-year plan to boost exports – product diversification and market diversification. “We are gradually entering new markets and exports will reach $60 billion by 2021,” he said. In the next three years, pharmaceutical exports alone are expected to reach $5 billion.—CB Report

T

spite the fact that the value of imports increased by less than half a percentage, where the value of imports for 2015 amounted to 654 billion riyals compared to 651 billion riyals in 2014.

Meanwhile, Customs ofQicials at the King Fahd Causeway have foiled a man’s attempt to smuggle 14 bottles of liquor into the kingdom, the Saudi Press Agency said on Sunday.

The report said the contraband items were attached with adhesive tapes to the suspect’s upper and lower legs and hidden by the man’s thobe. Despite the unusual way of smuggling, customs inspectors managed to detect the liquor following a search, said the report, quoting Fahad Dhufallah Al-Otaibi, head of customs at the bridge linking Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. A similar technique was employed by another suspect last September, using trousers that had pockets tailor-made for liquor bottles. Causeway customs ofQicials also discovered them by conducting body search on the man.

uk authorities seize over 3,000 illegal cigarettes

LONDON

cuStoMS BuLLetin RepoRt www.customsbulletin.com

O

ver 3,000 cigarettes and 3,200 packs of chewing tobacco have been seized in a

uS customs foils attempt to smuggle nine live birds

U

S Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Field Operations (OFO) officers working at Miami International Airport (MIA) arrested a passenger attempting to smuggle nine live birds. The passenger was arriving on a flight from Havana, Cuba on Jan. 9.Attempt to smuggle live birds in Miami. CBP officers selected the individual for further examination.

During inspection, CBP officers discovered that the passenger was concealing six birds in a fanny bag

and three birds in the groin area.

Both U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) were on-site for the investigation.

The individual was arrested and the birds were turned over to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Miami Quarantine Station.

The smuggling of live animals into the United States is illegal per federal law.—CB Report

crackdown on illegal tobacco.

The raids were carried out at three locations in Woodford Green and Ilford on January 18, when sniffer dogs found illegal products under Qloorboards and hidden in food packaging. Carried out in partnership with Redbridge Council, ‘Operation Henry’ was part of a nation-

C

wide crackdown by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) and the Department for Health.

Redbridge’s cabinet member for civic pride, Councillor Dev Sharma, said: “People who deal in illegal tobacco are more likely to encourage others, especially children and young adults, to smoke. “We are working hard to keep these illegal products off ours streets and are cracking down on the businesses and individuals that Qlout the law.” Deputy Director of Fraud and Investigation service at Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), Richard Las, said: “Seizing illicit products is only one of the tools we use. “The focus is on using a range of interventions, from penalties to prosecutions, to encourage compliance and maximise deterrent in areas with the highest levels of illegal tobacco activity.” Anyone with information about illegal tobacco can call HMRC customs hotline anonymously on 0800 595 000.

china’s rail freight falls sharply in 2015

hina’s national rail freight volume, an indicator of economic activity, fell signiQicantly amid an economic slowdown in 2015, ofQicial data showed on Tuesday.

Railways carried 3.36 billion tons of cargo last year, down 11.9 percent year on year, compared with a fall of 3.9 percent in 2014, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said.

NDRC said rail freight volume fell 13.4 percent from one year earlier in the last quarter of 2015, with the drop easing slightly from the thirdquarter’s 13.9 percent decrease. The tepid reading came after China

posted its weakest economic growth in 25 years in 2015, which was weighed down by weak demand both at home and abroad, industrial overcapacity and faltering investment. By comparison, the country’s passenger trafQic volumes continued robust growth, with its railway passenger volume up 10 percent from a year earlier in 2015. Air transportation passenger volume rose 10.4 percent year on year. Meanwhile, ProQits of China’s major industrial Qirms fell 4.7 percent year-on-year in December, accelerating from a 1.4-percent drop registered in November, ofQicial data showed on Wednesday.—CB Report

Malaysian man held for smuggling ketum leaves

T

PATTANI

cuStoMS BuLLetin RepoRt www.customsbulletin.com

hailand Police have arrested a Malaysian man and recovered 80 slabs of ‘ketum’ leaves weighing 15kg from his car.

The 31-year-old man was arrested and the drug seized from the boot of the car at the Betong immi-

gration centre in Yala yesterday evening, said Pattani Police deputy chief Police Lieutenant Piyawat Khuangsri. He said it was believed that the man was smuggling the drug from Baling for drug pedlars in Thailand. The man had smuggled ketum leaves into Thailand through Betong on several occasions, he added. Piyawat said the man was being held at the Betong police sta-

tion pending prosecution.

Meanwhile, Malaysia on Thursday trimmed its 2016 growth forecast as a slump in oil prices forced Prime Minister Najib Razak to revise the Qiscal budget. Najib said the Malaysian economy is expected to grow 4.0-4.5 per cent this year, down from an earlier forecast of 4.05.0 per cent. “After taking into consideration the current economic

scenario, the government has decided to revise the 2016 forecast,” he said. The revised estimate is based on assumptions that oil would range US$30 to US$35 a barrel this year. The initial budget in October had assumed an oil price of US$48. Najib said the national debt level will continue to be reduced and will not exceed the level of 55 per cent to GDP.

11

www.customsbulletin.com

8 ships arrive at Port Qasim; cargo volume remains 73,892 tonnes KARACHI: Three ships carrying containers and furnace oil were berthed at Qasim International Containers Terminals and FOTCO Terminal, respectively.

Meanwhile, eight more ships carrying Containers, Rice, Soya Bean, Canola Seed and Edible Oil also arrived at an outer anchorage of Port Qasim during 24 hours. Berth occupancy was 65% at the port on Wednesday where a total seven ships namely Maersk Pitts Burgh, Jazan, Rising, Bao Heng, Golden Heiwa, MT. Lahore and MT Box are currently occupying berths to load/offload containers, cement, general cargo, canola seed, furnace oil and edible oil respectively during last 24 hours.

Australia ships 607.4m tonnes of iron ore to china in 2015

Ports & Shipping

port of Savannah handles record shipments in 2015

ron ore heavyweights Australia and Brazil are gaining market share in top buyer China, but aren’t quite destroying their smaller rivals as quickly as they need to. Australia shipped 607.4 million tonnes of iron ore to China in 2015, a gain of 10.8 percent on the prior year, according to Chinese customs data published on Tuesday.

Brazil’s exports totalled 191.6 million tonnes, up 12.1 percent over 2014, the data showed. In terms of market share, Australia’s jumped from 58.8 percent of China’s imports in 2014 to 63.7 percent last year, while Brazil’s went from 18.3 percent to 20.1 percent. So far so good for the big producers, Brazil’s Vale , the Anglo-Australian majors Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, and No.4 Fortescue Metals Group.

There are two pillars that the iron ore

I

WASHINGTON

cuStoMS BuLLetin RepoRt www.customsbulletin.com

majors have used to justify their massive expansion projects over the past five years. The first is that they can become the lowest cost producers and use that advantage to drive smaller competitors from the seaborne iron ore market. The second is that China’s industrialisation still has many years left to run, and steel demand will rise to around an annual 1 billion tonnes in the coming years. The big miners have largely delivered on the first part of their strategy, driving costs down to levels where a tonne of iron ore can be delivered to its export port for a few dollars below the $20 a tonne mark.

This means they can still make money even with the Asian spot price .IO62CNI=SI at $40.80 a tonne, which is 43 percent down from the start of last year and barely a fifth of the all-time high from early 2011.—CB Report

T

he Georgia Ports Authority achieved record container volumes in 2015 as shipments in the Southeast continued to grow last year. GPA Executive Director Curtis Foltz said today that the Port of Savannah boosted its handling of 20-foot equivalent container units by 11.3 percent to 3.73 mil-

lion last year. “The expansion was fueled in part by heightened demand in the U.S. Southeast, Savannah’s logistical advantages drawing new customers to Georgia, and cargo diverted from the West Coast,” Foltz told the port authority board today. Total tonnage across all terminals reached a record 31.48 million tons in 2015, an increase of 1.09 million tons, or 3.6 percent. Container tonnage accounted for most of that growth, adding 991,031 tons (up 4 percent), for a total of 25.81 million tons. Bulk cargo added

60,705 tons (up 2.2 percent) to reach 2.86 million, while bulk cargo grew 1.7 percent, or 47,358 tons, to reach 2.79 million tons.

Meanwhile, New Jersey-based stevedore and terminal operating company Ports America will invest in Los Angeles, Long Beach, the PaciQic Northwest and western Canada as part of West Coast expansion strategy, but it will terminate a 50year lease with the Port of Oakland.

These locations are suitable for Ports America’s realignment goals, according to the company.

Saturday January 30, 2016

eMeA pc market contracted by 18.2%, says iDc C shipments in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) reached 20.8 million units in the fourth quarter of 2015, an 18.2% decrease on year, according to IDC. After a strong shipment push of devices under Microsoft’s Bing promotion from summer 2014 to January 2015, the focus for hardware manufacturers and their channel partners has been to deplete stock, leading to an 18% contraction for 2015 with 76.3 million PCs shipped in EMEA. In 2014 PC shipments were driven in commercial by the end of Windows XP support as well as the need to renew the first Windows 7 portables four years after their deployment, while in the consumer segment Bing successfully targeted the needs of price sensitive users. The strengthening of the US dollar also led partners to gamble on cheap products in the fourth quarter of 2014. But 2015 turned into a very costly year for all of them as inventory clearing not only took 11 months but also strong promotions and price reductions. On-year comparisons were therefore unfavorable during 2015 and the introduction of new technologies such as Windows 10 or new CPUs failed to reverse the trend. But it is not all bad news, as there are some signs of stabilization and 2015 results will support a more positive comparison in 2016.—CB Report

P

Asustek computer aims to ship 30m smartphones

A

WASHINGTON

cuStoMS BuLLetin RepoRt www.customsbulletin.com

sustek Computer is aiming to ship 30 million smartphones in 2016 and become a worldwide top-10 smartphone vendor.

To achieve the goal, India, Brazil, Russia and Africa will become major targeting markets for Asustek in 2016, according to sources from market watchers.

The sources pointed out that worldwide smartphone shipments

were less than 1.3 billion units in 2015, only a growth of around 10% on year and with the growth in 2016 expected to be even weaker, Asustek will need to push more aggressively into emerging markets for growth.

Asustek shipped 20.5 million smartphones in 2015, up from 8.5 million in 2014. In Indonesia, Asustek is planning to raise its shipments from 3.5 million units in 2015 to five million in 2016 and for Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand Asustek is looking to ship five million Zen-

Fone smartphones combined in 2016. This means that Asustek will have one third of its shipment goal contributed by Southeast Asia countries.

As for Brazil, Asustek is mainly outsourcing its ZenFone orders to Foxconn Electronics’ (Hon Hai Precision Industry) plants in Brazil due to the country’s high custom.

Asustek shipped around one million units in 2015 in Brazil and is aiming to ship three million units in 2016.

Asustek may also have a chance to become a top-Qive smartphone ven-

dor in 2016.

In India, Asustek shipped around three million smartphones and is estimated to ship at least four million units in 2016. Asustek currently has about 70% of its smartphones made by Foxconn’s plants in India as the India government raised its import custom for handsets in early 2015, As for Russia, which has strong demand for mid-range and entrylevel smartphones, Asustek has already prepared to compete against Lenovo, Huawei and TCL.

12

www.customsbulletin.com

Faisalabad ASO seizes smuggled items worth Rs 1.799m in three weeks FAISALABAD: The Anti-Smuggling Organization (ASO) has seized smuggled items worth Rs 1.799 million during the last three weeks of the current month. Sources told Customs Today that the ASO team has impounded non-duty paid vehicles and others vehicles which were used in smuggling of illicit items. As per detail, the ASO has registered only one case in the first week of January and confiscated 585 kilograms of foreign origin cloth worth Rs 400,000. While in the second week one case was registered against non-duty paid vehicle worth Rs 1,000,000.

Saturday, January 30, 2016

CUSTOMS BULLETIN

customs officials leave for india to attend 21st cLBc meeting LAHORE M HAYAt

www.customsbulletin.com

T

he Customs Central Region chief collector and collector of customs Lahore Preventive have left for Amritsar, India to attend 21st Customs Liaison Border Committee (CLBC), sources told Customs Today here.

The sources said that Chief Collector of Customs Rozi Khan Burki has led the delegation consisting of customs ofQicials, including Collector of Customs Mukarram Jah Ansari, Additional Collector Sumera Sheikh and others. It was reported that the ofQicials left for India along with their families.

It was added that the delegation will hold two days meeting of the committee and review the trade facilitation matters and will return to Pakistan on February 3. Previously, the 20th CLBC meeting was held at the Customs House Lahore Chief collector of Customs Rozi Khan Burki, Collector of Customs Lahore Preventive Mukarram Jah Ansari, Additional collector Jamil Nasir, Deputy Collector of Customs Iram Sohail and DC Nazima Salim from Pakistan Customs while Com-

missioner Captain Sanjay Gahlot, Additional Commissioner Nitin Saini, Deputy Commissioner Paramavtar Singh Gill, Assistant Com-

missioner Jasmeet Singh and Assistant Director Jasveer Khichar will attend the CLBC meeting from Indian side of the Customs.

According to customs ofQicials the CLBC meeting provides the customs authorities of the both sides an opportunity to streamline things

ahead of the high season besides train, bus and on-foot trafQic issues are also discussed to speed up customs clearance.

customs strictly bars officials from disclosing trade information KARACHI

AftAB cHAnnA

www.customsbulletin.com

T

he Pakistan Customs has warned the ofQicial regarding disclosure, publishing or dissemination of trade information of any person and those found involved in such a practice would face three years imprisonment. Sources told Customs Today that the move is aimed at eliminating such illegal activities while

the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has established a Monitoring Wing in both Inland Revenue and Pakistan Customs Services.

The sources said that the Customs laws are very strict about the disclosure of information as available in 155H of Customs Act, 1969 regarding conQidentiality of information. They said that all trade information gathered by customs during clearance of goods shall be conQidential and shall not be used except for: statistical purpose by the department and other government organizations; or purpose of comparison and evidence as

against other imports and exports; or production as evidence before a legal forum or an organization explicitly so authorized by the federal government; and any disclosure, publishing or dissemination of trade information of any person except as provided above without his explicit permission to any other person shall be offence.

The law is clear about penalties on such offence stating that if any persons discloses, publishes or otherwise disseminate trade information of any person to any other person except as authorized in these cases such person shall be

liable to a penalty not exceeding Rs 200,000 and on conviction before a special judge to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or both, sources added.

Recently, the Directorate General of Post Clearance Audit also issued warning informing the auditors that they need to be aware of the provisions of Section 155H, whereby the breach of the conQidentiality is an offence punishable under section 156 (1)(100) of the Customs Act, 1969.

The auditors have been directed that during the course of a trader’s audit, the auditors are

Published by M S Raza Off# 42, 3rd Flr Gull Plaza M.A Road Karachi, Printed by Dhoom Printing Building No RY/A, 11/6,11/7, Mashoor Mahal,off I.I. Chundrigar Road, Karachi

likely to acquire considerable information relating to the trader’s business activities.

The auditors must respect the conQidentiality of the information acquired during the audit. It is the policy of the Federal Board of Revenue to treat personal and business information provided by traders with strict conQidence.

The auditors shall neither disclose the information un-authorizedly nor use it for any personal gains or in any manner that would be contrary to the law or detrimental to the legitimate business activities of the traders.