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Karachi, Sat October 21, 2017

KARACHI

WAQAR ANSARI

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ollector Model Customs Collectorate of Appraisement West Shahnaz Maqbol has taken notice of delayed clearance of consignments at Karachi International Containers Terminal (PICT) and directed the additional collectors and deputy collectors to take

actions against those ofNicials who are involved in delaying the examination and assessments of the imported consignments. Sources told Customs Today that some importers and traders met the collector at her ofNice and informed her about the issues and problems being faced by the importers at the terminal during the examination and assessment of imported consignments. The importers were of the view that the examination and assess-

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ment officers at the terminal were adopting delaying tactics, which is ultimately increasing the cost of doing business as they have to pay extra charges in terms of demurrage and detention charges. The Collector Appraisement West assured the importers that their grievances would be redressed shortly adding that the Collectorate would ensure best possible facility to the trade according to rules and regulations.

Collector orders action against officials involved in delaying clearance

Customs impounds vehicles & goods of worth Rs.20m under garb of vegetables

Sarwat advises four collectors to appoint focal person for tackling anti-smuggling

Philippine Customs cuts inspection queues

Torkham Customs shows satisfactory performance with Rs412.42m collection

CollectorShahnazhastakennoticeofdelayed clearance of consignments at Karachi | See pAge 01 |

Customs team seized two Mazda trucks loaded with smuggled vehicles and | See pAge 02 |

Sarwat Tahira asked all the four customs collectors, working under North Region | See pAge 05 |

Philippine Customs has adjusted its rules requiring X-ray inspection | See pAge 07 |

MCC Peshawar has collected Rs412.42m revenue during first 17 days | See pAge 08 |

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Tax evasion: NAB expands investigation in Wagah Town scam Saturday, October 21, 2017

National

LAHORE: In bid to expand its investigation in Wagah Town scam, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has sought the records of other towns of Lahore. NAB had last week arrested Shalamar Town Assistant Commissioner Safdar Virk for embezzlement in tax registries. The arrested AC was on remand for further investigations. An investigator said that they have sought the record of other towns to expand the scope of their investigations after leads were obtained from arrested suspects.

customs impounds vehicles & goods of worth Rs.20m under garb of vegetables

SIALKOT

MULTAN

ZAfAR mALIk

ImRAN ALI

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ustoms Anti Smuggling Organization (ASO) squad of Sialkot has seized the different smuggled goods including Indian clothes , sarhies, 250 cartons of foreign made different juices and electronics from different vehicles during a special checking near River Chenab Bridge here. According to the senior officials of the Sialkot Customs Collectorate, the worth of these seized was stated to be Rs. 30 million. This special checking was conducted by the anti smuggling squad on the orders of Collector Customs Sialkot Ahmed Rauf, they added. Anti Smuggling Squad Sialkot has also arrested three accused drivers of the dubious vehicles carrying these smuggled items and sent them behind the bars. The officials added that the further investigations were underway. The special checking teams of the Excise and Taxation Department have seized and confiscated as many as 1299 illegal and unauthorized number plates of different vehicles during a special checking (general hold up)in Gujranwala Division’s all the six Sialkot, Narowal, Gujrat, Mandi Bahaud Din, Hafizabad and Gujranwala districts here.

ollectorate of Customs team seized two Mazda trucks loaded with smuggled vehicles and miscellaneous goods of worth Rs.20 million during their anti-smuggling operation. Multan Customs Collector Saud Imran Ahmad received credible information from their source, that smuggled goods and vehicles have been entered in the Multan region and they will be transported to other city. Collector Customs formed special team of Anti-Smuggling Organization team including Superintendent Habib ur Rehman, Inspector Aziz ur Rehman, Inspector Rana Mujtaba Noon, Inspector Ghulam Asghar and others to carry out antismuggling operation against them on the basis of intelligence to foil their attempt of smuggling. Customs anti-smuggling teams intercepted two loaded Hino Mazda trucks having registration numbers of TKZ-246/Quetta and JV3484/Sindh which were loaded with smuggled vehicles including cigarettes, ready-made garments, blankets, carpets, jerseys, rugs and others. Seized trucks have concealed the non-customs paid vehicles and goods under huge quantity of CauliNlower. During the preliminary investigation of Multan Customs they found that smugglers

Sialkot ASo seizes Indian cloth, goods worth Rs30m near chenab Bridge

were trying to smuggle said goods and vehicles under the garb of vegetables and they were coming from Lora Lai Baluchistan and their destination was Faisalabad. During the anti-smuggling operation of Multan Customs, local police were also called to avoid any resistances from accused. Anti-smuggling

squad successfully captured Hino Mazda trucks which were loaded with Toyota Premio and Toyota Corolla X and miscellaneous goods of worth Rs.20 million during their action. Multan Custom teams arrested four accused Khaliq Dad, Muhammad Anwar, Muhammad Qasim and Izzat ullah in charge of

smuggling during their action. Multan Customs has also lodged criminal case against arrested smugglers and four days physical remand has been granted by Customs Judge to Multan Customs against the accused for further investigation .Further Investigations against smuggled goods and vehicles were still underway.

NAB gets physical remand of former kDA chief A

KARACHI

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n accountability court has allowed the National Accountability Bureau (NBA) to keep former Karachi Development Authority (KDA) director general Nasir Abbas in its custody on seven-day physical remand in the case pertaining to illegal allotment of land. Abbas was initially arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency’s

(FIA) on the charges of holding two passports followed by his custody in money-laundering case. The NAB presented the accused before the judge and requested for grant of his remand, maintaining that his custody was required for interrogation. On the other hand, Abbas’ counsel opposed the NAB request and told the judge that there were not sufficient evidences against him. Abbas, himself intervened and said that he would be murdered. He requested

the court to send him to jail instead of remanding into NAB’s custody. While granting KDA’s chief physical remand for one week, the court directed the NAB’s prosecutor to submit the progress report in the next hearing. It was pertinent to mention here that Abbas was initially arrested for holding two passports. According to FIA, he got one passport in 1995 whereas another was issued in 2015. He had declared himself as businessman in-

stead of government employee in his passport and travelled abroad on both the passports. Meanwhile, National Accountability Bureau has arrested four persons of a family in Rs 400 million corruption reference. The NAB source said here that the accused persons including Pir Bux Samo, Ex-Assistant Account Officer of Bureau of Curriculum, Sindh his two sons Mustansar and Muzaffar and his brother Prince Ali were arrested from Hyder-

abad. Mushtaq Shaikh, Ex District Accounts Officer who is already under arrest of NAB and facing trial at Accountability Court is the main accused in the case. Pir Bux Samo is charged for preparing Rs 400 million bogus bills and got them approved from District Accounts Office, Hyderabad during Mushtaq Shaikh’s tenure with the help of his sons and brother. The arrested accused will be produced before Accountability Court at Hyderabad for remand.

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ISLAMABAD tARIQ DeRYA www.customsbulletin.com ustoms Chief Collector North Region Sarwat Tahira Habib asked all the four customs collectors, working under North Region, to appoint a focal person for the four collectorates to handle the anti-smuggling activities within the jurisdiction of North Region. She appreciated the performance of all the collectorates and directed them to gear up efforts to meet the assigned revenue collection target for the second quarter of Financial Year (FY) 2017-18. This was learnt by the minutes of conference held at the chief collector ofNice on Tuesday. The chief collector instructed all the four collectors including MCC Islamabad Saeed Khan Jadoon, Gul Rahman, Collector MCC Peshawar, Ahmed Rauf, Collector MCC Samberial, and Additional Collector GB to demonstrate their efforts as good as they showed during the 1st Quarter of FY1718. During the conference, all the collectors presented their performance notes and also shared the problems with the chief collector. During the meeting, the collectors discussed the matter of anti-smuggling and the problems they face on the Motorway to chase the notorious smugglers. The collectors told her that a plan is in the pipeline to sign a SOP with the Motorway Police so that they could continue anti-smuggling activities in a better way. The chief collector urged the

Saturday, October 21, 2017

collectors to focus on the revenue collection and hold more auctions to meet the revenue targets for the current Ninancial year. She also advised the collectors of the North Region to evolve a strategy to auction off the mobile phones seized during the corresponding FY1617 and FY17-18 so as to get maximum revenue. The chief collector also asked the collectors to dispose of the court cases earliest which are related to the revenue. Meanwhile, The Auction Cell of the Model Customs Collectorate Islamabad held an auction of seized perishable goods and earned Rs495000. The auction was held on 17th of October 2017 at the State Ware House G/11 Islamabad. According to details explained by Majid Hussain Gadd, Assistant Collector Auction Cell MCC Islamabad, that the Auction Cell showed tremendous performance under the guidance of Dr. Saeed Khan Jadoon. The items auctioned off include foreign origin chocolates Sinkers, Mars and foreign origin bubble gum Batook. The people from Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Peshawar participated in the said auction. The auction was organized by the Alvi Auctioneers along with the customs staff of the MCC Islamabad under the supervision of Assistant Collector Majid Hussain Gadd following the customs auc-

tion laws in a transparent manner. Majid Hussain said the standard procedures were followed in the auction process and the bidders deposited 25% on the spot out of the total worth of the lots they purchased through auction. The auction cell generated Rs0.495million except 10% of duty taxes. The Customs Auction Cell of the Model Customs Collectorate (MCC) Islamabad earned Rs19.577million through public auction of impounded vehicles and seized smuggling goods during the 1st Quarter (July to September) Financial Year (FY) 2017-18.

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eDItoRIAL

Issue of sky-high debts

hough it appears unceremonial for an army chief to speak on issues other than defence cadre, but General Qamar Javed Bajwa not only participated in a seminar on ‘Interplay of Economy and Security’ but also expressed concern over the country’s economic troubles and sky-high debts. His claim of improved security situation is on the record as the security forces have defeated the Indian RAW and Afghan agents, and restored the writ of the state across the country. The national security and economy are correlative and he called for broadening of tax net and maintenance of financial discipline to minimize reliance on foreign assistance. General Bajwa rightly pointed out fallout of the crisis after crisis which has been faced bythe country for the last four decades and the struggle to maintain balance between economy and security during the period. The infrastructure and energy sectors were considerably improved over the years, but the current account balance appeared to haunt the economy.The citizens need reassurance of benevolent and equal treatment from the state and it is high time to place economic growth and sustainability at the highest priority. Pakistan needs structural as well as tax reforms to create fiscal space. The economy needs to be documented and exportable products should be diversified.The army chief called upon the government to take difficult decisions and take all the geographical components of the along with each other to move forward. Pakistan has the lowest tax to GDP ratio in the region and fiscal discipline appears as a priority to ensure continuity of economic policies. There are no two opinions in the notion that Pakistan is facing hostile neighbours on its west and east sides which have constantly been trying to challenge not only the security but also economy of country.They have launched subversive activities in Pakistan to cripple its economy and challenge the writ of the government. Indian agents are present in all provinces and federal territories of the country in the shape of political parties, civil society groups, lawyers as well as media persons. The army chief has elaborated this point and it should be taken into consideration by all sections of the government.

Attracting fDI T

LAHORE

DR AftAB AfZAL

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he government is in the habit of making long terms plans for short term goals and short term plans for long term goals and every plan ends in fiasco after consuming billions of rupees taxpayers’ money. In its latest effort, the Board of Investment is going to launch an ambitious plan to attract $250 billion foreign direct investment for the development of infrastructure and allied industries in the country. Ironically, the plan will be unveiled in Portugal to attract investment from the European Union. It is not a rocket science to under-

stand that all the money to arrange the event will be paid by the government of Pakistan. The government received $2.4 billion foreign direct investment in 2016-17 which is peanuts as compared to India which received $50 billion in one year. If you are in Pakistan, you have to coordinate with Pakistani investors and then go to the other side of the fence to convince them to put their money in this country. So far, Pakistanis have appeared as one of the largest groups which not only invested in UAE, but also in Europe and North America. If you cannot convince Pakistanis, you cannot convince anyone else. Earlier, the government had

planned to take exports to $50 billion a year from $25 billion in 2013. Instead, the exports fell to $20 billion in four years and even it could not maintain the volume of exports it achieved four years ago. The policymakers will have to prepare ground for foreign investment. So far, the government has failed to respond to Chinese businessmen’s offer of shifting their industries to Pakistan. It is difficult to understand when bureaucracy will rid itself of lethargic attitude and when will it take proactive approach to meet the requirement of the changing circumstances. It is necessary for the prime minister to personally take interest in the offer and

give the Chinese businessmen space, utilities and tax concessions to shift their industries to Pakistan. Once high-tech industries begin to be established here, the European investors would definitely invest their money with Chinese and Pakistani counterparts. The early development of Special Economic Zones and export processing zones is need of the hour. Pakistan itself is a big consumer market and rising number of middle class has the purchasing power to stimulate the industrial growth. However, a balanced approach is the only way to please the foreign investors and remove the grievances of the local business community.

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Indian textile exports to Canada may double by 2020 Saturday October 21, 2017

World

NEW DELHI: It is likely that the Indian textiles and apparel exports to Canada may double by 2020, according to North American Brands Group, organiser of Apparel Textile Souring Canada (ATSC) fair. The exporters of India have a huge scope for expansion and growth to fill the gaps in the Canadian texiles and apparel market including its FTA partners. “Canada’s FTA with the United States, Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica and Honduras contain tariff preference level (TPL) provisions for certain textile and apparel goods being imported or exported within the respective free trade zones. TPL-eligible goods are goods that do not meet the requirements of the FTA Rules of Origin but can still receive the same preferential tariff treatment as goods from the country of origin, up to a negotiated quantity.

philippine customs cuts inspection queues

Japan oﬀers $10b to support Asian LNg growth TOKYO

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MANILA

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he Philippine Bureau of Customs has adjusted its rules requiring X-ray inspection of shipments after long queues of trucks hampered ports, according to Inquirer. New rules relaxing cargo security protocols were scheduled to go into effect from October 2017. From then on, shipments bound for economic zones; perishables and reefers would not require mandatory X-ray examination. Importations by government agencies and multinational companies were also excluded from the X-ray inspections. Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña described the new rules in a statement, saying that the above cargo categories would only be Nlagged for document checking. Under the BOC’s selectivity system, imported products pass through four

India’s April-Aug rice exports rise 7.4% ndia’s rice exports during AprilAugust rose 7.4 percent from a year earlier to 5.13 million tonnes as shipments of non-basmati rice surged, a government body said. Non-basmati rice exports jumped 9.4 percent to 3.29 million tonnes, while premium basmati rice exports rose 4 percent to 1.85 million tonnes, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority said in a statement. India, the world’s biggest rice exporter, mainly exports non-basmati rice to African countries and premier basmati rice to the Middle East. The country’s buffalo meat exports in April to August edged up 0.2 percent to 503,496 tonnes, while guar gum exports surged 61.5 percent to 218,165 tonnes, the government body said. –CB Report

lanes, green for minimal inspection to red for maximum inspection. The new rules mean the above products will be in the yellow lane, expected to undergo document veriNication only. Green lane operations were suspended by Lapeña when he assumed the position of customs head,

and a drug shipment from China was found to have passed through the green lane. Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña said: “Given time, we will come up with a more effective and efNicient system that will balance border protection and trade facilitation.”

telkom suspends new work with kpmg South Africa

elkom SA SOC Ltd., South Africa’s largest landline operator, won’t award any new business to KPMG LLP’s local unit pending the outcome of an investigation into the Nirm by the country’s accountancy body. Any contracts underway with the auditor and consulting Nirm will be completed and their expiration dates will stand, the Pretoria-based company said in an email to all staff seen by Bloomberg. A further decision

will be made when the probe by the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors into work for the politically connected Gupta family has been concluded. The news was Nirst reported on Monday by Johannesburg-based Business Report. “The recent media reports surrounding KPMG South Africa and allegations around the conduct of some of its employees have been met with great concern,” the phone-services provider told staff. –CB Report

apan has announced a $10 billion public-private initiative to support the expansion of Asia’s LNG markets, as the world’s largest LNG consumer aims to develop new demand centers, able to absorb growing global supplies. The initiative will provide financial support to projects supplying LNG to Asia, or supporting demand creation in the region, which already accounts for over 70% of global consumption, Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko said Wednesday. As part of the initiative, METI will be providing training through public and private funding for a combined 500 personnel over the next five years, for both LNG producers and consumers, Seko said at the LNG

Producer-Consumer Conference, held in Tokyo. “Japan will continue to work towards developing liquid LNG markets in Asia, seek speciNic actions towards creating LNG demand by new LNG utilization measures such as LNG bunkering, and contribute to building international consensus on the beneNits of LNG,” Seko said. The combination of contractual overcommitment, slowing domestic demand growth and downstream market deregulation is encouraging Japanese LNG stakeholders to support demand growth in other Asian markets. This is especially important at a time when the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is leading efforts to eliminate destination restrictions in long-term contracts, which could result in signiNicant volumes of LNG bursting onto the markets. “I would like to encourage leaders of Asian countries to seriously consider expanded use of natural gas as a choice of smart energy,” Seko said.

thai gDp to grow by 3.3 to 3.6% RIS Rating expects Thailand’s gross domestic product (GDP) will grow by between 3.3 per cent and 3.6 per cent this year, compared with 3.2 per cent last year, driven by a recovery in exports, continued growth in the tourism industry, and a rise in household expenditure. However, TRIS Rating is still concerned about external risk factors such as risks to the global economy, the high level of household debt and the floods in Thailand. Among the supporting factors for the growth are that exports will keep rising in the second half of this year. The economies of

Thailand’s major trading partners, such as the United States, Japan and China, are improving. These nations comprise around 31 per cent of Thai exports by value. The tourism industry is expected to see strong growth this year. Tourism showed signs of recovery after a temporary drop due to the suppression of zero-dollars tours. The crackdown, which affected Chinese tourists, took effect in September 2016. The Bank of Thailand has forecast 35.6 million foreign tourists in 2017. Household expenditure will expand in the second half of 2017. –CB Report

RDf exports becoming ‘increasingly diﬃcult’

AMSTERDAM

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ndustry experts have indicated the boom-time for refuse-derived fuel (RDF) exports could be over, following Nigures released by the Environment Agency (EA) showing a potential slowdown in the overseas market. Between January and August

this year, exports of RDF and other associated material from England was down by nearly 17,000 tonnes to just over 2.1 million tonnes, compared with the same period in 2016. This supports suggestions that the rapid growth in RDF exports over recent years is easing. From England and Wales, exports stood at around a quarter of a million tonnes in 2011 compared with just under three mil-

lion tonnes in 2015. Keith Riley, a partner at EnergyGap, said Ninding export capacity was “becoming increasingly more difNicult”, despite continued upward growth in the quantity of RDF sent abroad. He said landNill bans in the Netherlands and Germany, competitive imports from eastern Europe and low electricity prices in northern Europe were factors. “Exports continue, but I think

the rate of increase will slow as it becomes increasingly more difNicult to Nind the additional capacity in the north European plants, which must comply with R1 of the Waste Framework Directive. “As UK capacity comes on-stream, there is no doubt in my mind that a good proportion of the waste currently being exported will switch to UK disposal because it will be far more secure.”

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BMP chief calls for ‘autonomous status’ of FBR LAHORE: Businessmen Panel (BMP) Chairman Mian Anjum Nisar has suggested the government to replace the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) with an autonomous body, setting it free from any inﬂuence of the government and political victimisation that could eﬀectively enforce tax laws both at the provincial and the federal levels. The government was advised to take the private sector on board and involve it in the policy-making process. It was observed that the Federal Board of Revenue must be run by an independent board of directors, comprising professionals.

Saturday, October 21, 2017

CUSTOMS BULLETIN

torkham customs Station shows satisfactory performance with Rs412.42m collection PESHAWAR IRfAN BAhADuR

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he Torkham Customs Station of the Model Customs Collectorate Peshawar has collected Rs412.42million revenue during Nirst 17 days of current Ninancial year, informed by Najib Anjum, Deputy Collector Customs at Torkham Customs Station, on Tuesday during a talk with Customs Today. The Deputy Collector showed satisfaction over the revenue collection showed by Torkham Customs Station in 17 days of October during current FY and said the Torkham Customs Station will exceed the target of revenue collection during current month of October. According to further detail, the Torkham Customs Station generated Rs130.99million CD during these days and added Rs148.04million revenue by collection of ST on items. The Torkham Custom Station collected Rs148.63million revenue through AIT. The Torkham Customs Station made extraordinary efforts to meet the target revenue collection which resulted in collection of more revenue than the allocated target, said

by Deputy Collector. The Torkham Customs Station has been following

strict directives and guidelines issued from Collector Gul Rahman at the

MCC Peshawar and no effort has been spared which might add extra rev-

enue to the exchequer of Torkham Custom’s Station during current FY.

ANf making eﬀorts to curb menace of narcotics: minister LAHORE

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rovincial Minister for Counter Terrorism department Lt. Col. (R) Sardar Muhammad Ayub Khan on Wednesday said that Anti Narcotics Force (ANF) was striving hard for the elimination of elements involved in the menace of narcotics in spite of its limited resources and less force.

He said this while addressing an annual drug burning ceremony held here under the aegis of Anti Narcotic Force Punjab. The minister said that efforts were being made to reduce the use of drugs by creating awareness in this regard. He said the drugs burned today were have to be smuggled out from the country or to be used with in the country, adding that these drugs were seized with efforts of ANF and other law enforcing agencies. “World acknowledges Pakistan’s efforts against drugs and we also hope for full cooperation from

other countries in this regard,” he added. The minister also visited

various stalls which were set up for creating awareness among the

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masses regarding drugs. It is pertinent to mention here that this year the quantity of various burned drugs were as heroin 445.976 kg, charas 5613 kg, opium 155.680 kg, liquor 50407 litres, morphine injections 35893 and others. Besides this ANF registered 312 cases against the drug smugglers and also arrested 354 persons. ANF Director General Punjab Brig. Khalid Mehmood Goraya also spoke on the occasion. A large number of students, representatives of various NGOs and other officials participated in the ceremony.