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ISLAMABAD

TARIQ DERYA

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he Model Customs Collectorate (MCC) Islamabad showed 103.14% increase against the assigned revenue collection target of customs duty and taxes for September 2017. The collectorate has geared up its efforts to chase the allocated target for 2nd Quarter (October to December) FY17-18. The MCC Islam-

abad lost Rs156.00million revenue due to increase of duties and taxes in Sales Tax on foreign origin fabric. The collectorate faced a loss of Rs1160million on value of import of fabric during 1st-Quarter FY17-18.

According to details given by Dr. Saeed Khan Jadoon, Collector MCC Islamabad, while giving an exclusive interview to Customs Today.

He said that, during the month of September FY17-18, the collectorate achieved 101.69 % against the earmarked

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revenue collection target of With Holding Tax (WHT). During said period, the collectorate earned Rs208.46million against set revenue target of Rs205.00million. The collectorate earned extra revenue of Rs3.46million under the same head against the assigned revenue target. Dr. Jadoon told CT that, during above said period, the Customs Collectorate Islamabad generated less revenue of Rs401.45million against the allocated revenue target of Rs485.09million as Customs Duty.

Customs posts Rs103.14pc increase against set duties & taxes in Sep

Customs Preventive Sukkur foils smuggling bid of veterinary medicines

Customs generates Rs5174.02m in Q 1 b y ex c e l l i n g i t s c o l l e c t i o n

Duter te blame s Taiwan gang for drug war

Gujranwala: PRA issues recovery notices to 500 big defaulters

MCC showed 103.14% increase against the assigned revenue collection target | SEE pAgE 01 |

MCChasseizedsmugglingofNDP21cartons of foreign origin veterinary medicines | SEE pAgE 02 |

Customs Collectorate Peshawar collected Rs5174.02million | SEE pAgE 05 |

President Rodrigo has defended his drug war and placed the blame | SEE pAgE 07 |

PRA has issued the recovery notices to as many as 500 big defaulters | SEE pAgE 08 |

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SBP mops up Rs44.2 billion from market Saturday, October 7, 2017

National

KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan mopped up Rs 44.2 billion from the money market for two days through its open market operation. The rate of return accepted is 5.68 percent per annum, said an SBP press release.

Meanwhile, KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan mopped up Rs 60.8 billion from the money market for three days through its open market operation. The rate of return accepted is 5.70 percent per annum, says SBP release.

customs preventive Sukkur foils smuggling bid of veterinary medicines

FAISALABAD

HYDERABAD

nAEEm ShEIkh

ASLAm AnJum QuREShI

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ollectorate of Customs Adjudication Additional Collector Asma Hameed has issued an Order-InOriginal (ONO) in favour of the Customs Anti-Smuggling Organization (ASO) Faisalabad ASO Faisalabad has confiscated foreign origin13300 kilogram of sulphonic acid imported from Iran. The ASO team carried out a raid near Bypass Chowk, Sargodha Road, Faisalabad and impounded a huge quantity of sulphonic acid worth Rs5million involving customs duty and taxes of Rs694343. The supply of sulphonic acid in Pakistan is prohibited but most of the retailers are involved in dealing in the acid under the table. Owner of item Abdul Rehman son of Rehmat Ullah failed to submit any relevant legal documents regarding the possession and transportation of sulphonic acid. The seizing agency confiscated the acid as per Section 16, 18 of the Customs Act-1969 and forwarded the case to the Adjudication Department.

Later, owner appeared before the additional collector and submitted an affidavit to deal this case on behalf of the seized item and submitted a written request to release the seized smuggled item on payment of duty and taxes for summary adjudication.

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he Collectorate of the MCC Hyderabad Customs Preventive Sukkur has seized smuggling of Non-Duty-Paid 21 cartons of foreign origin veterinary medicines including injections/tablets worth Rs05.4million including duty and taxes during an action at customs check-post Jacobabad during the month of September 2017-18.

Model Customs Collectorate Collector Akhlaq Ahmad Khattaq received a tip-off regarding the transportation of smuggling goods items.

He constituted a team of Anti-Smuggling Organization (ASO), Customs Preventive, to prevent the smuggling. The team, under the supervision of Customs Preventive Additional Collector Aamer Nawaz Hamid comprising of In-Charge check-post Inspector Aziz Katpar and other Inspectors, sepoys and a driver, took part in the action.

The team intercepted a vehicle near check-post Jacobabad and recovered the abovementioned smuggling Non-Duty-Paid veterinary medicines. The items were smuggled into Pakistan. The value of the conPiscated items is Rs04million involving duties and taxes amounting to Rs01.4million.

The ASO registered separate cases of smuggling against the accused and forwarded them to the

Ac Asma issues ono in favour of ASo faisalabad

customs adjudication. After a seizure report, the ASO team deposited the impounded items into the Sukkur State Warehouse.

Collector Akhlaq Ahmad Khattaq said our team is showing extraordinary performance in thwarting the smuggling attempts in the region.

Meanwhile, The Directorate of Customs Intelligence and Investigations Quetta expedited its efforts to foil the attempts of smuggling. The collectorate seized smuggling items

worth Rs11.2million in 25 days of the current month.

Sources told reporter that conPiscated goods included plastic powder, Iranian juices, commercial molding machines, commercial generators, Iranian grease and break oil , hashish, plastic Dana, computer accessories, Iranian diesel, electronics and other items. The sources told CT that Director Customs Intelligence and Investigation Quetta Irfan Javed received a tip-off that some

smugglers are trying to smuggle computer accessories and different kinds of laptop systems, portable hard drives, DVDs, quantity of heavy speakers and USBs from Quetta into different cities. He immediately constituted a raiding team. The team enhanced the vigilance in the Mastung area and started a search operation on vehicles. During the search, the team intercepted a passenger bus with registration No: LHA-654 which was heading out of city.

‘Appointments in healthcare commission cleared by nAB, phc’

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PESHAWAR

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rovincial Health Minister, Shahram Tarakai informed provincial assembly that issue of appointment and recruitment in healthcare commission in 2016 has been settled by NAB KP and Peshawar High Court (PHC).

The health minister made the clarification on a calling attention notice of Uzma Khan of JUI-F. The

assembly met here with Speaker Assad Qaisar in the chair after 14 days break.

After clarification by the health minister, the mover did not press her calling attention notice. She had complained about that healthcare commission regarding illegal appointments in 2016. She further said that the inquiry committee into the matter conducted by the health secretary had ordered readvertisement of the appointments. The provincial assembly

referred the KP Assembly Local Government (Amendment) Bill 2017 and Peshawar Development Authority Bill moved by LG Minister Inayat Ullah Khan to the respective committees of the house for scrutiny.

Law Minister, Imtiaz Shahid presented KP Public Private Partnership 2017 (Amendment) Bill and Public Service Commission Report for the year 2015 on behalf of Chief Minister. The bill was moved to house committees for

deliberations.

Peshawar Development Bill 2017 entailed the formation of an authority headed by Chief Minister as its chairman, minister for LG as its Vice Chairman and eight members including one MPA from Peshawar District, District Nazim Peshawar, Secretary P&D, Secretary Finance, Secretary LG, Secretary Forest, and Commissioner Peshawar while DG PDA will act as member cum secretary.

The authority will focus on bet-

ter management and development to improve the quality of life within the jurisdiction of PDA, establish an integrated metropolitan and development, to ensure optimum utilization of resources, economical and effective utilization of land and to evolve policies and programmes related to improvement of the environment of housing, industrial development, traffic, transportation, health, education, water supply, sewerage, drainage and solid waste disposal.

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Saturday, October 7, 2017

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PESHAWAR nADIR khAn www.customsbulletin.com

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he Modal Customs Collectorate Peshawar collected Rs5174.02million in Pirst three months of the new Pinancial year by surpassing its target against the previous showing difference of 24 percent.

The statistics say that, under the head of custom duty, the customs house generated Rs1923million in the last three months against Rs1593.92million of the previous year, having a difference of Rs329.40million while the difference was 20.67 percent.

Under the head of Sale Tax on Imports, the house received Rs1151.89million compared to Rs943.99million of the previous year 2016 quarter report. The difference in rupees recorded was Rs208.29million whereas the difference was 22.02 percent.

In term of Sales Tax as Federal Excise Duty on palm oil, the house collected Rs593.60million in the Pirst three months of Financial Year 2017 against Rs313.88million of the previous year. The difference noticed was Rs279.72million while the difference recorded was Rs89.12million.

Likewise under the head of Sales Tax’s value addition on commercial importers, the house got Rs162.88million in the last three months against Rs140.36million of the previous quarter of Financial Year 2016. The d i f fe re n c e recorded was 16.04

percent while the difference recorded was Rs22.52million. Similarly in term of Federal Excise Duty on Import, the house generated Rs60.53million against Rs35.05million of the previous Pinancial year’s quarter. The difference recorded was Rs25.8million whereas the deference noticed was 72.70 percent.

Under the head of Withholding Tax, the house received Rs1281.80million against Rs1089million of the previous Pinancial year’s three months’ collection. The difference recorded was 17.68 percent while the difference was Rs192.56million. The overall performance of the ad e h house was much satise h rt , unde factory compared to the t a e h s t u s ho s say c m i previous year as there t o s t i s t a cu The st y, the e last is a remarkable gap alt h u t d n i tom lion l i most in every segm 3 of cus 2 d Rs19 inst e ment of collection. If a t g a r a e s gen us onth o i m the performance conv e e r e ep thr tinued with this spirit, n of th o i l f l i o 3.92m the performance of erence ce Rs159 g a diff n i v Peshawar will be on fferen i a d h , e r h a t ye the top compared to while illion m 0 cent other stations, which is 4 r . e 9 p 2 3 7 s R 0.6 really an appreciable job. was 2

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

EDIToRIAL

Rupee needs protection

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he panic buying of dollars in open market not only shows frailty of the Pakistani rupee, but also incapacity of the government to implement its writ to keep the financial order intact. The recent indictment of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar by the National Accountability Bureau has increased uncertainty in the financial sector and the government’s assurances that the rupee will not be devaluated, have little effect on the currency dealers and general public. During his tenure as the finance minister, Mr Dar tried his best to maintain rupee value at certain level and once he is removed from the post, it will be difficult for the government to avoid a melt down. It is the strong position of Mr Dar as the finance minister which has kept the currency value intact and staved off all the pressures from the international donor agencies as well as the local exporters to depreciate the rupee value.Unfortunately, the devaluation remained an easy solution to enhance exports in the past. The rupee, which was three against a dollar in 1947, has been drastically devalued over the years. The workable solution to revive exports is to stimulate the industrial sector and produce value added goods. Now it is a test case for Mr Dar who is facing corruption cases against him and the sitting prime minister not to let the economy down. A strong currency is the guarantee of strong economy and instead of scraping the value of rupee, the government policymakers should find other options to maintain the financial order in the country.

Some economists give instances of currency devaluation by some leading economies of the world but the situation in Pakistan is different. Every economy has its own reasons to increase or decrease its currency value and strategy suitable in one country cannot be blindly apply on another. Alongside financial instability, the country is also facing political uncertainty and status quo is the best option at the moment. The general elections are less than a year away and economy needs not to be disturbed in the current situation. Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has already dispelled the impression that the government is considering any possible devaluation of rupee. According to the State Bank of Pakistan, rupee lost almost a half percentage point to Rs105.42 per dollar from Rs104.9 per dollar three months ago.

projects of regional connectivity A

LAHORE

DR AfTAB AfZAL

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ccording to newspaper reports, the Asian Development Bank has approved $800 million multi-tranche Pinancing facility to enhance regional connectivity and boost trade in the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation corridors in Pakistan. Under the programme, the National Highway Authority will rehabilitate and upgrade 747 kilometer roads across the country, including Sindh, Punjab, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The programme will expand the country’s links with central Asian states and will improve efPiciency of the road trafPic. The plan was

envisaged in 2013 to link Pakistan with Afghanistan, Central Asia and China and the total cost of the project could be nearly $5.6 billion.The international donor agencies will be involved in the development of infrastructure and the programme will not burden any particular country. The corridor will offer the shortest route to landlocked countries to transport their goods to Karachi and Gwadar. Pakistan is situated at the crossroads of Central Asia, China and South Asia and has the potential to become a regional transport and trade hub. The ADB programme will help the government realise potentials of trade and connectivity in the region.The connectivity programme will virtually

integrate and connect South Asia, Central Asia and Europe. After the development of the connectivity, Pakistan will have tremendous opportunities to trade with central Asian countries and beyond. So far, Pakistan’s trade is centered on sea trafPic while trade with central Asian states remained limited because of high freight cost and poor infrastructure. Upgrading the country’s roads will push overall economic growth. Pakistan has cultural and historical relations with Afghanistan and ensuring peace in that country would connect all the countries in the region. The open-border trade will be in the benePit of each and every nation and it will be a win-win scenario for all the partner coun-

tries. Unfortunately, India is hitting its own foot by refusing to become partner in the regional connectivity programme. By taking part in the CPEC and CAREC corridors, it can have access to the central Asian markets. India could not rid itself of the burden of history as it remained under Muslim rule for centuries. The time has come the nations should look into the future instead of the past and resolve all the thorny issues by negotiations and peaceful means.

The development of regional infrastructure is in the benePit of all countries and it is good omen Pakistan has the standing offer to all the regional countries, including India to become part of the programme.

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Jordan’s sheep exports increase by 14% since January Saturday October 7, 2017

World

AMMAN: The volume of Jordan’s sheep exports during the first nine months of this year increased by 14 per cent compared to last year, officials at the Ministry of Agriculture said on Thursday. This year, the Kingdom exported a total of 387,700 head of sheep, Salah Tarawneh, the Agriculture Ministry’s assistant secretary general for marketing and information, said in a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times. “In the month of September alone, the country exported over 36,000 head of sheep to the Arab Gulf market, which is a 75 per cent increase compared to the previous month, when 20,640 head of sheep were exported,” Tarawneh said.

Duterte blames Taiwan gang for drug war

france to invest E20b in energy transition PARIS

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TAIPEI

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resident Rodrigo Duterte has defended his drug war and placed the blame on the “Bamboo Triad” of Taiwan, which he claimed was Plooding the Philippines with illegal drugs.

The president said his administration was not after killing people.

“Now, there are some countries which are insulting us, (asking us) to open our records to them. Who are you to do that? If you don’t believe our records, then go out and Pind something else to do. We do not fabricate,” Duterte said.

“We are in trouble, this is the Pirst time I would reveal it. The Philippines is a client state of the Bamboo Triad. They have taken over the drug operations. The Philippines serves as a transshipment (point)of shabu (methamphetamine) to

Bangladesh, cambodia sign new deals ambodia and Bangladesh will sign two new memorandums of understandings (MoU) aimed at boosting trade between the two nations.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, the two countries will soon sign an MoU on the specifics of the joint trade council and on revamping a bilateral trade agreement that expired last year.

Speaking during a meeting last week with Saida Muna Tasneem, Bangladesh’s ambassador to Cambodia and Thailand, Commerce Minister Pan Sorasak said the two MoUs will be signed during the official visit of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Cambodia in October. Ms Tasneem asked Cambodia’s Ministry of Commerce and the Chamber of Commerce to hold a business dialogue forum with the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry. –CB Report

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America. It behooves upon America to work closely with the Philippines on this serious matter. We are Plooded with drugs and the locals here haven’t taken in (drugs)…but they participate in the selling,” Duterte added. The Bamboo Union, or Zhu Lien Bang, is said to be the largest and most powerful of the

triad gangs in the world, with more than 10,000 members worldwide, according to the US Customs Service. According to Taiwan’s National Police Agency, the Bamboo Union’s members are involved in prostitution, gambling and extortion, gunrunning, drug smuggling and human trafPicking worldwide.

Switzerland’s main river port in Basel to be expanded

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oth Basel cantons and the federal government have agreed to upgrade the Port of Switzerland in Kleinhüningen on the edges of Basel to strengthen the national logistics hub. The cantons of BaselCity and Basel-Country, Switzerland’s Ministry of Transport and The Port of Switzerland, in Basel, have come to an agreement to expand Switzerland’s main port complex.

“This includes the construction of a

third harbor basin in the port of Basel-Kleinhüningen,” communicated the Swiss government on Wednesday September 27th.

The Port of Switzerland is a key logistics hub for the country on the River Rhine. It consists of three ports in the two Basel cantons: The ports of Birsfelden, Muttenz and Basel-Kleinhüningen.

Basel-Kleinhüningen is the largest of the three. –CB Report

he French government plans to invest 20 billion euros ($A29.86 billion) in an energy transition plan, including 9 billion euros towards improved energy efPiciency, 7 billion for renewables and 4 billion to precipitate the switch to cleaner vehicles. The environment-related investments, drafted by economist Jean PisaniFerry and presented by Prime Minister Edouard Philippe on Monday, are part of a 57 billion-euro investment plan to run from 2018 to 2022.

Buildings are responsible for 20 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions, so the government plans a 9 billioneuro thermal insulation program that will focus on low-income housing and government buildings, the government said in a statement.

“The number of badly insulated low-

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income housing and social housing will be divided by two, and a quarter of government buildings will be renovated in line with environmental norms,” it said. The program aims at Pinancing the renovation of 75,000 dwellings per year, or 375,000 over the government’s Piveyear term. The government will also invest 7 billion euros to boost the growth of French renewable energies by 70 per cent over the next Pive years. Investments will include research and innovation to combat climate change, and will speed up France’s transition to low carbon and greater energy efPiciency. While efPiciency investments will be a boon to the housing sector, the resulting lower power demand will hurt utilities, although the industry should also benePit from more support for renewable power. The plan will also invest 4 billion euros in the switch to less polluting vehicles, with the transport industry responsible for a third of greenhouse gas emissions.

no income or sales tax raise: pm rime Minister Hani Mulki said that the government will not reduce the income exemptions to individuals or families, and will not raise sales tax.

He stressed that the government is committed to His Majesty King Abdullah’s directives to protect the middle- and low-income segments of Jordanians.

During his meeting with Senate President Faisal Fayez and Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh, Mulki stressed that the amendments on the Income Tax Law will not affect single individuals or families whose income is below JD12,000

and JD24,000 respectively.

He said that the amendments are introduced to improve the efPiciency of tax collection and harshen penalties for tax evasion.

It also aims to ensure that all individuals whose yearly income exceeds JD12,000 and families with income more than JD24,000 are registered as tax payers.

The premiere stressed that “it’s not acceptable that non-Jordanians benefit from tax exemptions.

This harms Jordanian economy and citizens, given that one third of the Kingdom’s population are non-Jordanians”. –CB Report

‘Illegal mining poses security challenge to Afghanistan’

P KABUL

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resident Ashraf Ghani’s Second Vice President Mohammad Sarwar Danish said illegal mining posed serious threats to Afghanistan’s national security and stability. European Union Head of Delegation Ambassador Pierre

Mayaudon said illegal mining in the country has been fueling insurgency and that the EU was committed to helping Afghanistan curb the problem. The European Union Delegation in Afghanistan and Parliament of Afghanistan held a joint high level conference on “Challenges to the Extractive Industries and Impact of illegal Mining on Security and Stability in Afghanistan”. Delegates discussed

challenges and opportunities facing the mining sector in the country. “Illegal mining is not related to a remote conPlict in a distant time! Illegal mining is happening in Afghanistan, literally at our gate, and it is happening now. This creates for all of us an obligation to react,” Mayaudon said.

In addition, the natural resources commission of parliament has said that Daesh is trying to take control of

a number of mines in the country to fuel its war machine. At the conference, participants said illegal mining by militant groups and local lawbreakers was playing a signiPicant role in the deteriorating security situation in the country. “We unfortunately have not managed to use our natural resources to ensure a prosperous and comfortable life for the residents of this country,” said Danish.

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Collector Rauf distributes Rs1.3b rebate cheques to exporters SIALKOT: Collector Customs Ahmad Rauf appreciated the role of local business community to introduce two mega projects Sialkot Dry-port Trust and Sialkot International Airport on self-bases.

He expressed these views while addressing a gathering during a reception, hosted by SIAL in his honour at Sialkot International Airport.

He said that custom department would provide all-out support to local business community and remove all hurdles in this regard.

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gujranwala: pRA issues recovery notices to 500 big defaulters SIALKOT ZAfAR mALIk

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unjab Revenue Authority (PRA) has issued the recovery notices to as many as 500 big defaulters including government and private educational institutions, industrial and trade organizations, ceramics factories, construction companies, beauty parlors, travel agencies , marble factories catering companies, doctors, private clinics, hospitals , hotels, restaurants , property dealers, goods transporters and housing societies in Gujranwala Division for the recovery of Rs500 million from them.

Sources told Customs Today that the Chairman PRA Punjab Dr. Rahil Ahmed Sadiqui had issued the ofPicial recovery target of Rs500 million from these defaulters in Gujranwala for the Pirst quarter of the running Piscal year, as this target was 250 percent high than the last year’s ofPicial target, in this regard.

Out of this Rs500 million ofPicial target, the PRA special recovery teams have yet recovered Rs235 million from defaulters in Gujranwala division’s all the six Sialkot, Narowal, Gujrat, Mandi Bahauddin,

HaPizabad and Gujranwala districts here. Meanwhile, Local leading industrialist Mian Amir Aziz was elected unopposed as the President

of Gujranwala Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) during the annual election complete here.

While, Naushad Ahmed and Irfan

Yaqub Butt were also elected unopposed as Senior Vice President and Vice President of GCCI , respectively.

The GCCI management has

called the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Gujranwala Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) on October 2017.

govt spends Rs322.673m on food security research projects ISLAMABAD

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he government has so far spent an amount of Rs 322.763 million on different research and development projects of Ministry of National Food Security and Research under its Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) 2017-18.

The government in its federal

budget 2017-18 had allocated an amount of Rs 1614.266 million for different development projects for the uplift of the agriculture sector of the country.

Upto September 29, an amount of Rs 103.725 million was released for risk based control of foot and mouth disease in Pakistan as against the total allocation of Rs 134.920 million.

Meanwhile, the government has provided Rs 100 million for promotion of olive cultivation on commercial scale in the country in order to promote the edible oil production, where as the

government has allocated Rs 500 million for the projects in its

PSDP of the current financial year. Under PSDP 2017-18, the

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government has also released Rs 56.862 million for national pesticide residue monitoring system as against the total allocation of Rs.284.308 million.

The government has released Rs. 4 million for the establishment of animal quarantine station at Gwadar (Phase-II) in order to exploiting the livestock potential development of the Balochistan Province. An amount of Rs 3.843 million was released for establishment of horticulture research institute Khuzdar, Balochistan for promoting the sector in the porvince.