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Karachi, Sat November 11, 2017

KARACHI

WAQAR ANSARI

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he Customs Collectorate of Appraisement West has generated Rs 12.1 million under the head of customs duty, sales tax, income tax and federal exercise duty during Jirst eight days of current month of November.

Sources told Customs Today that Customs Appraisement West has collected Rs 4.22 million

under the head of customs duty, Rs 3.12 million under the head of sales tax, Rs 2.65 million under the head of income tax and Rs 2.11 million as federal excise duty during the month.

It is necessary to mention here that Customs Collectorate of Appraisement West has generated Rs 9.564 million under the head of customs duty, sales tax, income tax and federal exercise duty, include collected Rs 3.16 million under the head of customs duty, Rs 2.344 million under the head of

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sales tax, Rs 2.16 million under the head of income tax and Rs 1.90 million as federal excise.

Customs Collectorate of Appraisement West has earned Rs70.17million of customs duty, sales tax, income tax and federal exercise duty during October generated Rs18.98million as customs duty, Rs17.34million of sales tax, Rs15.21million as income tax and Rs18.64million of federal excise duty during the month of October Fiscal Year 2017-18.

Appraisement West earns Rs 12.1m during first week of November

Customs ASO foils bid to smuggle non duty paid goods from Peshawar

North Region again stays superior by generating Rs2557m during four months

Hong Kong Customs seizes suspected dried seahorses

About 307 NDP offending vehicles valued at Rs397m impounded in four months

Customs Appraisement West has generated Rs 12.1m under the head of CD | See pAge 01 |

ASO thwarted attempt of smuggling by recovering six NDP vehicles, tyres | See pAge 02 |

North Region surpassed the allocated revenue collection target with Rs2557m | See pAge 05 |

Hong Kong Customs seized about 1 kg of suspected dried seahorses | See pAge 07 |

ASO took into possession 307 NDP oending vehicles worth Rs397m | See pAge 08 |

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Faisalabad Customs Audit detects tax evasion by M/s Bilal Textile Saturday, November 11, 2017

National

FAISALABAD: The Model Customs Collectorate (MCC) Faisalabad Audit Officer for the year 2014-15 conducted an audit through tax evasion of Rs1.6million allegedly by M/s Bilal Textile Jaranwala Road Khurianwala imposed a recovery on the said company. Sources told Customs Today that, according to rules 358 read with Rules 361 and 362 of SRO 450(1)/2001, if any licensee fails to give a proper account of the warehouse goods and finished goods to the satisfaction of an officer of customs not below the the rank of deputy collector then he is liable to pay recovery.

customs ASo foils bid to smuggle non duty paid goods from peshawar

MULTAN

PESHAWAR

ImRAN ALI

NADIR khAN

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he Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Regional Tax Office (RTO) has declared Computerized National Identity Card mandatory for entrance in the office. According to details, Regional Tax Office Multan was over crowded due to deadline of filing tax returns from Federal Board of Revenue and tax facilitation center was full due to entry of irrelevant persons. The Regional Tax Office Multan has also enhanced the security of the office to avoid any unseen incident. Commissioner Regional Tax Office Multan has directed the security staff that no individual should be allowed enter in the building without their Computerized National Identity Card and gate security will issue visitor card to people for tax related work. The Regional Tax Office authorities observed that few outsiders came into the office without submitting their CNIC at the entrance gate and they went to RTO Multan authorities and staff. Few people interrupt the officials by meeting them and visitors will not be allowed to move freely without issuance of visitor card from security. Commissioner Regional Tax Office Multan Asim Ahmad has strictly directed the security to not allow anyone entrance in the tax Office without CNIC or identification.

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ustom Anti Smuggling Organization thwarted attempt of smuggling by recovering six non custom paid vehicles, tyres and auto parts and other materials from their possession.

Following the directives of Collector Gul Rahman, the anti smuggling organization in a crackdown in Peshawar recovered NDP Toyota car, 156 tyres, Sonic CV joint coda for LTV, Brake Pad for LTV, Ball joint for LTV, BGF Hydraulic parts, chases frames, 850 yards cloths, Bed Ford truck bearing registration no: E 5117, Bed Ford bus bearing registration no: DN 3207.

It is necessary to mention here that Collector Customs Gul Rehman has directed all anti smuggling squads to use all available resources to curb smuggling in the region. Customs Collectorate is also working on a comprehensive strategy to foils smuggling bids. The campaign against smuggling has been speed up soon after the new collection took charge.

Meanwhile, After a successful dialog between the Clearing Agents Association and the custom ofJicials, the import-export goods clearing activities resumed at Torkham Custom Center on Thursday. The said activity remained suspended for 24 hours, Torkham clearing agents said.

multan Rto declares cNIc mandatory for entrance

It is to be mentioned here that the clearing process halted on Wednesday morning when the custom ofJicials introduced nine new conditions for exporting trading commodities while Jive conditions were set for importers and the ofJicials asked the clearing agents to meet all the given requirements during the clearing process.

President Clearing Agents Asso-

ciation, Torkham Haji Hayatullah said they held a meeting with Deputy Collector (DC) Torkham Custom Center Najeeb-ur-Rehman that was also attended by administration and forces ofJicials. At the moot, they convoyed their grievances to the custom ofJicials.

It was decided that the custom ofJicials would revise the newly conditions introduced for the import,

export and the clearing activities would be restarted temporarily with old procedure of clearing process.

It was also agreed that the matter would be solved by the high custom ofJicials of Pakistan and Afghanistan mutually, he added. A custom ofJicial at Torkham also conJirmed the development and said that clearing process was restarted at the custom center Torkham at noon.

customs Intelligence impounds NDp prado Land cruiser T

HYDERABAD

ASLAm ANJum QuReShI www.customsbulletin.com

he Customs Intelligence and Investigation Hyderabad Region has taken into possession a non-duty-paid Prado Land Cruiser worth Rs03million involving duties and taxes of Rs03.1million during an action on Auto Bhan Road, Hyderabad, during the month of October 2017-18.

Sources told Customs Today that

I&I Hyderabad, on the strict instructions of Directorate General Customs Intelligence & Investigation Director, Shuakat Ali and I&I Hyderabad Region Director, took effective measures to curb the smuggling in the region.

Sources told Customs Today that Customs Intelligence authorities Hyderabad Region received a tip-off regarding a non-duty-paid vehicle. He formed a team comprising Superintendent Intelligence Officer Wilayat Ali, Inspec-

tors Shafiq Ali, Muhammad Anees, Sepoys Sikander Ali, Ghayas Ahmed, Sharif Aslam Chohan and Drivers, to conduct a raid for impounding the Prado Land Cruiser.

The FIU team intercepted the said Prado with registration No: BD1105 and asked the owner of the vehicle to prove the legal status of the vehicle but he failed to do so.

So officials, taking legal action, impounded the vehicle under customs bylaws and registered a case against the accused.

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ISLAMABAD

tARIQ DeRYA

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he Customs North Region surpassed the allocated revenue collection target with Rs2557million against the assigned revenue target for the Jirst four months of Financial Year 2017-18 under all the heads.

The North Region was earmarked the revenue collection target of Rs10914.32million while it earned Rs13471million during above said period.

Chief Collector Sarwat Tahira Habid informed Customs Today that she has written an appreciation letter to all the four collectorates including Model Customs Collectorate (MCC) Islamabad, Peshawar, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Sialkot.

She told CT that the MCC Islamabad showed 39.70% growth in collection from July to October FY17-18 against the same period of FY16-17 under all the heads. The MCC Peshawar displayed 23.97% increase in revenue collection during initial

four months of FY17-18 under all the heads against the same period of FY16-17. The MCC GB posted 8.06% growth during initial four months of FY17-18 against the same period of FY16-17 under all the heads. And MCC Sialkot recorded 51.70% growth during four months of current FY17-18 against the revenue collection during the same period of FY16-17.

Sarwat Tahira further told CT that the MCC Islamabad collected Rs5384.13million during the Jirst four months of FY17-18 under all the heads against the earmarked revenue target of Rs4108million. The MCC Peshawar received Rs7333million during initial four months of

wth % g ro 6 0 .

8 ed -18 B post f fY17 o g s c c h t n th e m ur mo 6-17 tial fo of fY1 i d n i o i g r durin me pe ialkot mcc S the sa t d s n n A i . a s ur ag e head ring fo u h t d l l h a t w under st the % g ro again 51.70 8 d 1 e 7 d r 1 Y re c o same re n t f ng the of c ur i r s u h t d n n mo lec tio -17 ue col f fY16 reven o d o i r pe

FY17-18 against the allocated target of Rs6452million. The MCC Sialkot earned Rs.759million under all the heads against the assigned target of Rs.-1147million. And the MCC GB got Rs1513million under all the heads from July to October FY17-18 against the earmarked target of Rs1500million under all the heads.

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eDItoRIAL

potentials of furniture industry

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ccording to an official of the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the local furniture industry has great potential to become one of the best earning sectors in the country. Pakistan has artisans, craftsmen and host of other skilled force to produce best handmade furniture and it has a huge demand in international market.

Shortage of cash and proper marketing training are the biggest flaws facing the local industry which can make a substantial contribution to national economy. And billions of dollars annual export can be made if the government patronizes the furniture industry and creates its demand in overseas destinations.So far, the local furniture manufactures have booming business within the country where they have held a successful series of exhibitions in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore. According to FPCCI official, the government should establish liaison with this sector to fully exploit the potentials of the local market and understand conditions and requirements of the industry for its development, promotion and protection.

Currently, the textile sector is the largest industry in the country in terms of exports which stands at $14 billion annually.

However, the furniture industry needs the government support to enable the manufactures to hold exhibitions and ensure that they get easy access to foreign markets.

The current exports of Pakistan’s furniture stand at $51 million which is peanuts. The industry has the capacity to bring up the exports to $5 billion mark in five years.The government should launch a comprehensive programme to develop and promote the furniture sector in urban and rural areas of the country. On the pattern of textile sector, a separate authority should be established not only to introduce modern techniques to the manufactures but also develop skilled labour to cater to the needs of the industry. However, the government has so far failed to acknowledge the potentials of this industry at any level.

The cities like Chiniot, Gujrat and Gojra have been emerging as the hub of furniture industry but the government support is required to get the product promoted in international markets. Pakistan itself has great market for furniture and imports Rs 4 billion worth of furniture annually.

Banking on manufacturing sector A

LAHORE

DR AftAB AfZAL

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ccording to a report of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the large-scale manufacturing sector has improved its performance during the first two months of the current fiscal year.The growth of the sector shot up to 11.3 percent in two months after posting a 5.7 percent growth last year which was the highest in a decade.

The growth in the last fiscal year is attributed to the factors driven by the domestic demand.

However, the export-led demand is likely to spur industrial growth during the current fiscal year.The report notes that

growth in the export sector rose to around 10.84 percent over the same period of the last fiscal year as demand for petroleum, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, leather and engineering products increased. According to experts, the optimism could evaporate in case of political turmoil, law and order situation, load shedding and lack of soft bank loans. With increase in population, demand of products has increased at home and abroad.

But the industry still lacks vision to invest in capacity building of its employees. Another assessment by the states bank reveals the industry could achieve a growth target of 6.3 percent for the fiscal year 2017-

18 if direct foreign investment continues to flow into the country. During the last fiscal year, at least 12 out of a total of 15 broad industrial categories recorded a higher output and the trend has apparently been consolidated during the first two months of this year.

The experts also attribute the last year’s growth to higher public sector spending in construction and infrastructural projects, bank loans to the private sector at low interest rates and improved supply of gas and electricity to industrial units. A good segment of middle and upper middle class has the purchasing power to create demand at local level whereas as

exports are also picking up after a four-year slump. The performance of the textile sector is satisfactory which can have good impact on the large manufacturing sector as it depicted a growth of eight percent during the current fiscal year.

The report indicates that food, beverages and tobacco sectors are likely to perform well during the current fiscal year as they posted a doubledigit growth last year. However, the political chaos and law and order can subdue the performance and the government will have to maintain political and administrative order to continue the growth of the sector unhindered.

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Singapore total reserves hit $375.33 billion Saturday November 11, 2017

World

SINGAPORE: Foreign currency reserves also rose to $371.73b. Singapore’s reserve assets hit $375.33b (US$275.41b) in September, 8.68% higher than $345.45b (US$253.41b) last year.

According to the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) preliminary data, foreign currency reserves hit $371.73b (US$272.74b) in September, 8.78% higher than $341.73b (US$250.68b) last year. Total securities rose by 8.04% from $281.74b (US$206.70b) to $304.40b (US$223.30b). Singapore’s IMF reserve position is at $1.28b (US$942.3m), whilst other reserve assets reached $625.30m (US$458.70m).

hong kong customs seizes suspected dried seahorses

uk economy holds steady but outlook remains weak LONDON

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HONG KONG

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ong Kong Customs seized about 1 kg of suspected dried seahorses, an endangered species at Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Point on Friday, it said. Customs ofJicers intercepted an outgoing passenger at the control point afternoon and found about 1 kg of suspected dried seahorses in the baggage carried by the passenger. The 53-year-old woman was arrested.

The case was handed over to Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department for follow-up investigation. Under the Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance, any person found guilty of importing or exporting an endangered species without a licence is liable to a maximum Jine of 5 million HK dollars (about 643,000 U.S. dol-

Bahrain suggests freezing Qatar’s gcc membership ahrain’s foreign minister suggested suspending Qatar’s Gulf Cooperation Council membership until it accepts the demands of its Arab adversaries in the region’s worst crisis in years. “The correct step to preserve the GCC would be to freeze Qatar’s membership until it sees reason and accepts the demands of our countries. If not, we will be fine with it leaving the GCC ,” Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa said on Twitter.

Bahrain , Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt on June 5 severed ties with Qatar over accusations of supporting extremism and being too close to Iran, charges Doha has denied. Founded in 1981, the GCC is a political and economic union that includes Saudi Arabia, Bahrain , the United Arab Emirates and Qatar , as well as Oman and Kuwait. –CB Report

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lars) and imprisonment of two years.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong Customs today arrested a male owner of a car beauty service centre suspected to have wrongly accepted payment, in contravention of the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (TDO). Customs earlier received information alleging that a car beauty service centre in Tai Po had closed down

suddenly and was unable to provide the relevant services after accepting payments, as well as failing to return the payments to customers. After investigation, Customs officers today arrested a 40year-old man. Investigation is ongoing and the arrested man has been released on bail pending further investigation.

Dubai customs organizes an assembly in support of breast cancer

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omen’s Committee of Dubai Customs organized an assembly in front of its main headquarters for all its employees to raise awareness about Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The function saw the presence of Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director of Dubai Customs and a number of executive directors, heads of departments, employees and clients. Musabih pointed out that the awareness activities carried out by

Dubai Customs during the month of October in support of breast cancer campaign are part of its commitment towards its social responsibilities and its inherent values in fulJilment of the national agenda of UAE Vision 2021.

“Health awareness initiatives are part of our strategic plans at Dubai Customs. They encourage employees to follow a healthier life style and seek prevention from different types of cancer” he added. –CB Report

rowth in Britain’s private sector held steady in the three months to October after weakening recently, and the inflation hit to consumers and Brexit concerns for companies mean growth will probably stay modest, an industry survey showed. The Confederation of British Industry’s monthly indicator of output for manufacturers, retailers and services companies remained at +11, its joint lowest level since June. “Growth in the economy has remained relatively stable, although the pace of growth was a little slower than expected, particularly for retailers and manufacturers,” CBI chief economist Rain Newton-Smith said. Britain’s economy slowed sharply in the first half of 2017

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although it picked up a bit of pace in the third quarter. The Bank of England raised interest rates for the first time in a decade on Thursday as it moved to head off what it sees as the inflationary impact of Brexit, even as it said economy will probably remain stuck in a slow gear over the next three years. Output expectations for the next three months fell to +12 from +18 in September, the weakest reading since January.

The CBI said it expected growth to remain modest as inflation eats further into household spending power in late 2017 and early 2018 and uncertainty about Brexit dampens business investment next year.

“We still expect more support to growth from net trade than has been the case in the recent past, as a lower exchange rate and firm global growth lift UK exports and softer domestic demand bears down on import growth,” it said.

Afghan sends 981tons of fruit to India he OfJice of the President said in a statement that the latest air cargo Jlight left Kandahar Airport, carrying at least 40 tons of fruit. Afghanistan has sent 981 tons of fresh and dried fruit to India through the Afghan-India Air Corridor Program since June 18, the OfJice of the Senior Advisor to the President on Banking and Finance said in a statement on Saturday.

The latest Jlight carrying at least 40 tons of fresh and dried fruit departed Kandahar Airport on Friday, the statement said, adding that it was the 21st Jlight to date. The process of transferring goods to India via the

Air Corridor Program has continued on a regular basis, the statement said.

The result of the program’s success goes to the strong coordination and cooperation amongst government entities, the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries and the private sector. “We therefore, entered into the very optimal stage in which we have almost solved most of the challenges ahead of the program. The operation of the Jlights we recently conducted were in a very smooth and standard manner. So far, we were able to export 198 tons of goods through this program to India,” the statement added. –CB Report

taiwan export machine tool sales expected to grow

A TAIPEI

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t the end of October, I had the opportunity to sit down with Walter Yeh, president and CEO of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), to discuss the current state of the Taiwan machine tool industry and the initiatives

the industry is embracing as it endeavors to increase exports and become more competitive in the world market. Mr. Yeh says that for 2017, the Taiwan machine tool industry is on course to achieve 14 percent growth in exports. He attributes this to better business conditions in China as well as growth in the United States and Europe, which traditionally have been strong markets for Taiwan ma-

chine tools. Taiwan machine tool builders are also experiencing sales growth in Southeast Asia and Turkey.

The Taiwan government has deemed the machine tool industry to be of national strategic importance. As a result, it has supported an initiative to place Taiwan at the forefront of Industry 4.0 technology. Much of the machine tool builders’ efforts in this regard revolve around new machine

tool control technology/human-machine interfaces (HMI), Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)-based production management, cloud-based preventive maintenance, augmented reality and artiJicial intelligence. Modern Machine Shop Executive Editor Derek Korn recently encountered some of these highlights during his recent visit to the country, which he highlighted in this Twitter moment.

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WB to provide $5m for nutrition project in Sindh ISLAMABAD: Pakistan signed a Grant Agreement with the World Bank amounting to US $5 million for “Multi-Sectoral Action for Nutrition (MSN) Project” for Sindh. The Project development objectives are to increase the dietary diversity and improve sanitation and hygiene practices in targeted project areas in Sindh Province. The project will contribute to improving the underlying conditions leading to chronic malnutrition through a sanitation intervention focusing on behavioral change to improve hygiene practices and achieve open defecation-free villages.

Saturday, November 11, 2017

CUSTOMS BULLETIN

About 307 NDp offending vehicles valued at Rs397m impounded in four months ISLAMABAD tARIQ DeRYA

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he Customs Anti-Smuggling Organization Peshawar took into possession 307 Non-Duty-Paid offending vehicles worth Rs397million from July to October of Financial Year 2017-18.

Fazli Shakoor, Deputy Collector, Anti-Smuggling Organization (ASO) Peshawar, told Customs Today that the ASO launched a crackdown on the possessors of NDP offending vehicles loaded with smuggling goods during the first four months of Financial Year (FY) 2017-18.

Deputy Collector told CT that, during initial four months of FY1718, the ASO Peshawar impounded 240 offending vehicles valued at Rs269million while it took into possession 67 of NDP vehicles worth Rs128million during above said period. Fazli Shakoor further told CT that the ASO Peshawar impounded 94 vehicles during the month of October FY17-18. The ASO took into possession said vehicles worth Rs122million whereas about 75 offending vehicles valued at Rs82million were impounded while the ASO took into possession 19 NDP vehicles

worth Rs39.85million.

Deputy Collector ASO Peshawar

said that above said outstanding performance has been due to good

administrative measures and guidelines provided by Collector

Model Customs Collectorate Peshawar Gul Rehman.

‘New customs clearance will be digitalised to plug leakage of kitty’ PESHAWAR

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he traffic of trade at the Pak-Afghan Trade and Transit Route remained irregular due to rejection of modifications in customs clearance of imports and exports by the customs clearing agents at Torkham Customs Station. On Thursday, a meeting was called to find an end to the

problems. The meeting was attended by Deputy Collector Torkham Customs Station Muhammad Najib Anjum, FC Coronel and Political Tehsildar along with President of the Customs Clearing Agents at Torkham Customs Station to talk about the future of Customs Clearing via Torkham.

The President Customs Clearing Agents agreed to a document to provide all the necessary details for clearing of goods via Torkham Border. After the agreement, stranded trucks were allowed to pass the

border. The customs officials informed Customs Today that, in the first phase, E-Filing was introduced to prepare the importers for new customs laws.

The new customs clearance will be digitalized which is a major requirement of the time to plug the leakage of the national exchequer on daily basis.

The Pakistan Customs has prepared a draft which was delivered to each chamber of commerce and industry in which a proper documentation was required about the importers, exporters, traders and manufac-

turers in order to bring them all in the web based one customs clearance service.

Recently, customs officials have asked about the complete possession of documents which require visa, NOC of importers, exporters and place of contentment for supply of goods which are brought into Pakistan or supplied to Afghanistan.

Hidayat Ullah Shinwari talked about the problems confronted by the Customs Clearing Agents and added that we have no opposition to web one customs service nor new modifica-

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tions of customs laws but Torkham Customs lacks proper facilities.

The FBR needs to consider the real situation of Torkham Customs Station which is situated at a distance from the center of facilities.

It will be very good if FBR, after providing facilities, asks for efficient results.

The deputy collector assured the delegation that high-ups of the FBR will be informed of the issues which have been creating hurdles for efficient customs clearing of goods and vehicles.