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pAkIStAN’S FIrSt INDepth NewSpAper oN cuStoMS
Daily
Vol 1 Issue No. 232
Karachi, Thu November 12, 2015
ISLAMABAD
M FAIZAN
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ederal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Tariq Bajwa has said that decrease in imports is main reason that led to shortfall in receivables. He said that the board collected less sales tax due to decrease in imports. The FBR chair-
man was brieRing Senate Committee on Finance which was held under the chairmanship of Senator Saleem Mandviwala. Bajwa said that that almost Rs 210 billion refunds are still payable by FBR and “we are working on different strategies to generate revenues”. He said, “We were expecting to collect Rs 640 billion in current Riscal year but we only collected Rs 600 billion,”adding that “we recovered Rs
Price Rs. 14.00
62.3 billion extra as compared to the collection Rigures of the previous Riscal year.” Bajwa informed the meeting that FBR had already paid refunds amounting to Rs 21.5 billion while Rs 9.9 billion were paid during the same period of the last Riscal year. He said that FBR collected less amount under the head of sales tax because of a 12.5 percent decrease in imports from July to September.
Pakistan Customs, SBP initiate automation project for Electronic Form-E
S h o w c a u s e n o t i c e s e r ve d o n K I C T f o r R s 7 .7 3 m t a x e v a s i o n
Kuwait Fund MD lauds positive economic outlook in Pakistan
Customs Tribunal DB-I becomes dysfunctional after Member
LCCI, BELCCI signs MOU to promote economic ties
The Pakistan Customs and the SBP have initiated a project for the automation | See pAge 02 |
The Customs Collectorate of Adjudication-I has served a show cause notice | See pAge 03 |
Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has called on Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic | See pAge 04 |
Division bench of the Customs Appellate Tribunal has become dysfunctional | See pAge 12 |
LCC and Mogilev Branch of the BELCCI have inked a MOU on Tuesday | See pAge 09 |
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Over 5kg heroin recovered from passenger of UK-bound flight Thursday, November 12, 2015
National
RAWALPINDI: Airport Security Force (ASF) Tuesday recovered more than five kg heroin from the luggage of a passenger of Birmingham-bound flight at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport. According to ASF, during routine scanning of the luggage of Idrees, the officials on duty recovered 5.20kg heroin from his bag. Later, the accused along with the recovered cache of heroin was handed over to the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) for initiating legal proceedings after registering a case.
pakistan customs, SBp initiate automation project for electronic Form-e
FAISALABAD
LAHORE
NAeeM SheIkh
M hAYAt
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he Model Customs Collectorate (MCC) Adjudication Deputy Collector (D.C) Asma Hameed has issued final notices for hearing of 21 pending cases. According to details, Customs adjudication has issued final notices to four accused from Minawlai and ordered them to pursue their cases till 2612-15. The four accused including Asmal ullah, Abdul wakeel, Ghulam Sadiq , Dilbar Khan. Sources told Customs Today that the adjudication issued last date 24-12-15 for eleven accused of different cases. Zahid Aziz accused of auto parts, Javaid khan accused as art silk cloth, Muhammad Shaban accused as Hino truck registration no. SBA 180, Nasir Ameen accused as Hino truck bearing registration no. 103 SEB, Muhammad Amin accused as Mazda truck LES 135597, Tariq shah accused as Hino truck SBA 049, sardar ali accused as Toyota Hiace van BOU- 335, Muhammad Usman confiscated pile fabrics and Dilshad Ali accused of ISUZU Truck bearing registration no. 8083 Sindh. The Adjudication mentioned last Date 6-1-16 for accused belong to Sargodha including Zulafqar Iqbal accused of Toyota Hiace Van BQU- 009, Sana ullah accused as Toyota Hiace van LHP- 3513, and Tamil Akhtar seizure cases imported cloth.
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he Pakistan Customs and the State Bank of Pakistan have initiated a project for the automation of the process of issuing Form-E besides an Electronic FormE (EFE) module in consultation with relevant stakeholders and incorporated in the Pakistan Customs’ electronic system called Web Based One Customs (WeBOC). As per details, the landmark development is expected to provide several beneRits to stakeholders including reduced cost of doing business for exporters, efRicient processing of duty draw back claims of exporters, elimination of fake/forged Form-E, improve repatriation of foreign exchange besides bringing efRiciency to the current system. At present, most of the exports are processed through WeBOC but a small percentage of the export cargo are being exported through the ‘One Customs’ system. Efforts are underway to expand scope of the EFE module to export of such goods as well. Currently, Form-E is issued manually by Authorized Dealers (Banks). The system will begin receiving applications for EFE with effect from November 2, 2015, for exports taking place from November 11, 2015 onwards. The request for
Faisalabad Adjudication issues final notices for hearing of 21 cases
EFE will be submitted electronically by the exporter in WeBOC and authorized dealer will approve or reject EFE electronically in WeBOC. Accordingly, paragraph 36 has been added in Chapter XII of FE Manual 2002, which provides regulations
for issuance of EFE. However, for exports taking place through One Customs, manual Form-E will be issued by authorized dealers as per existing instructions. After electronic approval of Form-E by the authorized dealer, the
exporter will attach EFE in WeBOC with Goods Declaration (GD) Form to carry out export of goods for which Form-E has been approved. The serial number of EFE for each authorized dealer will be generated by WeBOC.
FBr’s effective strategy decreases smuggling through Att ISLAMABAD
M FAIZAN
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he Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) have launched comprehensive policies that have brought down smuggling in the name of Afghan Transit Trade. Sources told Customs Today after installation of trackers in con-
tainers, which are being used for trade activities between the two countries, it is impossible for anybody to steal or vacate these containers en route to Afghanistan or from Afghanistan to Pakistan. Sources said that in the recent past an attempt was made to vacate a container but Customs authorities thwarted that attempt within hours. It is pertinent to mention here, that traders of both countries are says that after these measures smuggling between Afghan Tran-
sit Trade decrease marginally decreased. Meanwhile, Federal Board of Revenue directed importers to provide complete details of goods while Riling TP Goods Declaration. According to details, FBR directed the importers to provide true declaration of goods in terms of Section 79 of the Customs Act, 1969, which provides Riling a true declaration of goods, giving therein complete and correct particulars of goods, duly supported by commer-
cial invoice, bill of lading or airway bill, packing list or any other document required for clearance of such goods in such form and manner as the Board may prescribe. While traders shall Rile TP at Port of Entry and TP-GD shall include HS Code wise items information with detailed description, item quantity, UOM, unit value, import value and total value. Moreover, complete Rinancial information like payment terms, delivery term, currency, FoB value,
CFR value, freight, insurance, landing, assessed and exchange rate etc. as required along with examination shed at Port of Entry and destination collectorate would also be required. While on the other hand importers shall also provide details about registered bonded carrier for transportation, payment at bank under the jurisdiction of port of entry, selectivity criteria on banned PCTs or vehicles through selectivity criteria or banned items.
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Rawalpindi Excise impounds 1,460 token tax defaulter vehicles ISLAMABAD: The Excise And Taxation Department Rawalpindi in a crackdown against token tax defaulter and unregistered vehicles has impounded 1,460 vehicles. Excise Director Tanveer Gondal said that operation against tax defaulters was also conducted on Sundays. The crackdown was at four locations in Rawalpindi during which 3,000 vehicles were checked. Gondal added that 1,460 vehicles were impounded, which were token tax defaulters, besides showing determination that action will be continued in order to trap the defaulters.
Member, chief accounts preside DAc in tax house Lahore
Thursday November 12, 2015
National
Show-cause notice served on kIct for rs 7.73m tax evasion
LAHORE
MuhAMMAD NAwAZ www.customsbulletin.com
ember Accounts Seema Majid and Chief Accounts officer Dr, Sarmad of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has chaired a departmental account committee (DAC) in tax office Lahore in which one representative at commissioner level represents RTO Gujranwala and Sialkot. According to the details, FBR has started to review the performance of the RTOs and seeking reply from them on routine basis. Yesterday, Member accounts Seema Majid and Chief Accounts Dr Sarmad of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has inquired from the representatives of the Sialkot and Gujranwala.
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pIA accounts frozen for recovery of rs 2.2b tax KARACHI
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he top revenue authority of the country has frozen the bank accounts of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) for recovery of Rs2.2 billion taxes, which the national-flag carrier collected from passengers as the federal excise duty (FED) for the months March-June 2015. Sources said that Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) frozen the PIA accounts on November 6, after the airlines failed to make payment of the said amount. The Large Taxpayers Unit (LTU) of Karachi had already sent a notice to PIA for the collection of amount and refrained the airlines from utilising the collected amount for other purposes. The Large Taxpayers Unit (LTU) of Karachi had already sent a notice to PIA for the collection of amount and refrained the airlines from utilising the collected amount for other purposes.
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KARACHI
AFtAB chANNA
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he Customs Collectorate of Adjudication-I has served a show cause notice on the Karachi International Container Terminal Limited for bringing a loss of Rs 7.73 million to the national kitty by mis-declaration of goods under PCT 8426.4100. According to details, the Directorate of Post Clearance Audit-PCA, Karachi detected the tax evasion and issued a contravention report against M/s Karachi International Containers Terminal Limited. According to sources, the PCA Karachi while scrutinizing the import data observed that M/s KICT imported a consignment that included self propelled telescope of Genie brand dated 8.01.2013. The consignment was cleared from Model Customs Collectorate of Appraisement-West Karachi by misdeclaring the goods under PCT 8426.4100 attracting customs duty at free where the said goods are correctly classiRiable under PCT heading 8709.1900 chargeable to customs duty at 30 percent. Thus, M/s KICT by mis-declaration of classiRication evaded/short paid customs duty Rs 6,189,091, sales tax Rs 990,255, additional sales tax Rs 185,673 and income tax Rs 368,251 totaling Rs 7,733,270, the sources added, adding that the KICT Ltd Karachi is requested to pay the
evaded/short paid amount of duty and taxes within 10 days. Meanwhile, The Collectorate of Customs Adjudication-I has issued a show-cause notice to M/s Stream Trading International for tax evasion of Rs 452,080 for under invoicing. According to details, on scrutiny/audit of import data it has been found that M/s Stream Trading International, Karachi, imported “A1-34Q-34S Blender SMTHR13 240V QB7D 2.2 QT J2 SL EU & A1-34Q-34S Blender SMTHR13
consignment was cleared from Appraisement-west by misdeclaring goods under pct 8426.4100, attracting customs duty at free where the said goods are correctly classifiable under pct heading 8709.1900 chargeable to customs duty
pM takes notice of delay in giving tax exemptions ISLAMABAD
ShAhID MINhAS
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rime Minister Nawaz Sharif has taken notice of delay in giving duty/taxes exemption to the projects related to the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and will call a meeting of the Ministry of Power and Electricity, and
the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to resolve the matters, it is learnt here. Sources said that the FBR has already informed the Ministry of Power and Electricity that the FBR
has no authority to issue SRO to give exemption as for such exemptions cabinet committee approval is needed. During the meeting, which will be called by PM, the matters of tax exemptions and issuance of SROs will also be discussed between FBR and the ministry. Later, the procedure will be sent to Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), they added. The sources said that the FBR has appointed two secretary level ofRicers to handle the matter regarding CPEC projects.
Xpress 240V EU” under PCT heading 8509.8000 through MCC Preventive, Customs House, Karachi at a unit value of US$ 97.0 per piece from United States. It is evident from the history of the importer that a case of under valuation of the identical item from the same supplier and origin i.e. “Blendtec, a division of K Tec USA” has been found and adjudicated vide Order-in-Original No. ONO – 133222 – 02102013 on the basis of invoice found in the container at the time.
FBr to introduce new electronic return filing system n a bid to enhance tax net, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has decided to launch new Electronic Return Filing System (ERFS) to facilitate the taxpayers. According to a senior FBR officer, the new system has been evolved to simplify and ease E-filing to facilitate taxpayers.—CB Report
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Oil prices resume decline in Asia Thursday, November 12, 2015
Business
Singapore: Oil prices resumed their decline in Asia Wednesday, with global crude oversupply continuing to dampen investors´ sentiment despite occasional rallies. Prices had risen the previous day after a four-day losing streak, as traders weighed a bearish price outlook from the International Energy Agency (IEA) and a lowered US estimate for crude production. The oil market has collapsed by more than half since mid-2014 with prices languishing under $50 a barrel, hurt by the supply glut and the decision by the oil exporter grouping OPEC to maintain output to counter booming US shale production.
kSe remains in bearish trend, loses 34,000 points mark KARACHI
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espite gaining some early losses, the Karachi stock Wednesday remained in negative zone as KSE-100 index lost 24.08 points to reach 33934.04 points level, losing 34,000 mark over volatility. The market witnessed the highest trading level of 33969.68 points and lowest level of 33687.98 points,
pM asks people to hold ‘sit-in politicians’ accountable
with the total volume of 82,710,980 shares, having Rs5,017,415,258 value. Out of total 335 companies, 148 were up, 164 were down and 23 remained unchanged. Oil & gas marketing companies was the top traded sector with total traded volume of 21,182,450 shares, while Power Generation & Distribution was second with a total traded volume of 14,709,500 shares. The three top traded companies were Pace (Pak) Ltd. with a volume of 12,123,000 and price per share of 8.21 (0.49), Sui South Gas with a volume 11,244,000 of price per share of 40.22 (0.98), TRG Pak Ltd with a
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rime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday asked the people to hold those accountable who had impeded the country’s development by resorting to sit-in politics. The prime minister said the politics of sit-ins delayed development schemes in the country. He said the era of seeking commissions and kickbacks for uplift programmes was now over and the country.
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ISLAMABAD
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ederal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has called on Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (Kuwait Fund) Managing Director Abdulwahab AlBader in the sideline of the Global Islamic Finance Conference. Senior ofRicials of the Fund and Pakistan’s Ambassador to Kuwait
KARACHI
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uring the past couple of days, the Pakistani rupee has been once again facing speculative pressures due to some recent newspaper reports criticizing external borrowing of government and the quality of reserves of the country, said State Bank in a statement on Tuesday. It said that the current level of exchange rate is broadly in line with the economic fundamentals of the country. It is consistent with the improved external position of the country, achieved through contained external current account deficit at low levels, continued surplus in overall balance of payments of the country and built up of foreign exchange reserves to historic high levels. SBP expects the external position to continue to strengthen and stands ready to take any measure to ensure stability in the foreign exchange markets. It said, while referring to Moody’s reports, columnists have overlooked their recent assessment which noted that “the support from multilateral and bilateral lenders bolster an improving foreign reserve position and ongoing reform progress”. Moody’s have also mentioned that while Pakistan’s government financing is mainly from domestic sources and system.
D volume 10,308,500 of price per share of 39.31 (-0.16). The top three advancers were Bata (Pak) XD with price per share 2950
(50) and 20 shares; Pak Tobacco SPOT with price per share of 1031 (47.91) and 150 shares; and Siemens Pak share of 1011.25 (29) and 320.
kuwait Fund MD lauds positive economic outlook in pakistan
KASUR
SBp says rupee in line with economic fundamentals
Muhammad Aslam Khan also participated in the meeting. The Rinance minister thanked Abdulwahab for the important role that Kuwait Fund has played as a reliable development partner, contributing to several important development projects in the energy, infrastructure, human resource development and other sectors. During the meeting progress of various projects being Rinanced by Kuwait Fund in Pakistan was reviewed. The minister informed the Kuwaiti ofRicials of the positive trajectory of the Pakistani economy
and the investment friendly environment created as a result of the policies of the present government. The Kuwait Fund MD expressed appreciation for the positive economic and business outlook in Pakistan. He assured the Minister that Kuwait Fund would be happy to fund more and bigger projects in Pakistan in the sectors proposed by the government. Dar also met a group of Kuwaiti investors, led by Saad Mohammad Al-Saad, Chairman National Industries Group (NIG) and including Fahad Al-Khalid, Chairman Noor Investment Company.
efforts to explore oil, gas in kp accelerated ISLAMABAD
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n a bid to overcome energy crisis, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has speed up the efforts to explore oil and gas reservoirs in the province. KP Oil and Gas Company limited (KPOGCL) Chief Executive OfRicer Raziuddin, while talking to APP, said that with the establishment of the
company an atmosphere of investment opportunities and competition for fresh leases of exploration in the area has created. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa owes about 10 trillion feet of gas and 600 million barrels of oil unexplored deposits. The province, which was having very low per capita usage of commercial energy and power in the past, now has high end Rigures, he remarked. He said that after the inception of KPOGCL, the once to-
tally discounted and forgotten geological zones have now become a cynosure for oil & gas exploration and production and hence several blocks have been taken now by various companies. Raziuddin said that oil companies were now entering the province to explore and develop indigenous hydrocarbon resources of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is evident from the fact that the number of exploratory and development wells
were on peak in September 2014 – March 2015. He said that in order to remain attractive in highly competitive global exploration market, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa through KPOGCL making every possible effort to invite new players to the province, assist foreign and local E and P companies in their work, providing fool proof security cover in order to ensure the development of oil & gas resources of KP. Raziuddin said previously the
hostile regulatory environment for investment, lack of available investment, precarious security situation in the province and lack of political will were some of the reasons behind the poor performance of oil and gas sector in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said that owing to the needs of the province the law & order situation in the province has been much improved and conRidence level has increased for International companies, too.
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KARACHI
AFtAB chANNA www.customsbulletin.com
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akistan Customs Directorate of Post Clearance Audit, Directorate Karachi has detected tax evasion to the tune of Rs 54.196 million by Sui Southern Gas Company Limited by availing inadmissible exemptions under SRO 678(I)/2004 dated 7.8.2004. According to details, the PCA while scrutinizing import data of Sui Southern Gas Company Limited observed that the company imported various consignments of components for domestic gas meters and cleared the same from Port Qasim and Air Freight Unit of Customs Preventive, Karachi, through their clearing agent namely M/s. Muhammad Amin Muhammad Moqeem by availing inadmissible exemption, concession under Clause (2) and Clause (3) of SRO 678(I)/2004 dated 07.08.2004. Whereas conditions with reference to
Thursday, November 12, 2015
aforesaid clauses of the SRO clearly stipulate that only such goods shall be entitled to the exemption by a company other than an E&P company, for its own use or its contractors, sub-contractors and service companies for its projects of oil and gas exploration and pro-
duction, reRinery, oil and gas pipeline, liqueRied petroleum gas (LPG), compressed natural gas (CNG), LiqueRied Natural Gas (LNG) petroleum terminals, energy conservation, environment and safety controls. Further, without prejudice to above, the imported goods also fall within the ambit of CGO No. 11/2007 dated 28.08.2007, being locally manufactured, according to sources. In view of above, Sui Southern Gas Company Limited by availing inadmissible exemption/concession under SRO 678(I)/2004 dated 07.08.2004, have evaded/short paid custom duty Rs 44,181,174/-, sales tax Rs 7,370,905/- and income tax Rs rt o p m i 2,644,361/- tog n utinisi r c taling Rs s e h e l t i t h a th d e pcA w v 54,196,440/, r e s s Sgc ob sources data of S imported variou added. s y n nt
compa compone ot f o s t n e g consignm gas meters and c i t s ng for dome cleared by availi the same ible exemption, inadmiss er clause (2) and n und 04 concessio of Sro 678(I)/20 ) clause (3 07.08.2004 dated
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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
tax reforms need of the hour
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ccording to newspaper reports, the country could not meet the tax collection target allegedly set by the International Monetary Fund as the tax authority is facing a shortfall of Rs 40 billion tax in the first quarter of the current fiscal year. The compliance of the IMF conditionalities is one thing but collection and payment of tax as a national duty is something else which has its own parameters. The prevailing tax system is almost obsolete and needs structural reforms. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has acknowledged the need for introducing reforms in the system after he was briefed that the Federal Board of Revenue faces Rs 40 billion shortfalls in tax collection. Now the government is considering levying tax on luxury commodities used by rich to save poor and middle classes from additional taxes. According to the minister, negotiations between Pakistan and IMF for the 9th tranche review under Extended Facility Fund have been completed while Pakistan will also receive a $500 million tranche from the World Bank this month. The government had increased the development budget from Rs 316 billion to Rs 700 billion during the current financial year and it has to meet the targets to avoid cut in development funds. Dar claimed the credit of the economic stability in first two years of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government. The country’s foreign exchange reserves have been increased, a significant progress is made in energy sector and the world donor agencies have acknowledged the progress made in various other sectors. The government has achieved GDP growth rate of 4.5 percent and is likely to increase it to 5.5 percent during the current fiscal year. Dar also revealed that the government obtained the IMF to clear the old loans. The country received $4.6 billion and returned $ 4.7 billion, leaving the people to guess the jugglery of words and figures. The only way to achieve economic stability and prosperity is to focus on tax reforms for which the government seems not in a hurry. The government had initiated various power generation projects to overcome shortage of electricity but energy crisis still persist. The direct and indirect taxes as well as the federal and provincial taxes have severely aected the quality of life of the middle classes. The government has a majority in the National Assembly and nobody can stop it from the packages of legislation to overhaul the financial, energy and social sectors. Dar also accepts that circular debt has increased due to lack of energy reforms, but question is who is stopping the government from introducing reforms at the first place? It is time to leave petty politics to do something real.
pakistan as promise land P
LAHORE
Dr AFtAB AFZAL
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akistan is a promise land for the businessmen and investors as it offers tremendous opportunities in every sector of life. Young, cheap and skilled labour, rail and road infrastructure and geographical location can be exploited to boost economic activities in the country. According to Atif Bajwa, the president of the Overseas Investors Chambers of Commerce and Industry, business, trade and investment opportunities are knocking the door of this country which need to be answered. At a reception organized by the Board
of Investment, he said that the country has emerged as a survivor in the wake of challenges of the war on terrorism, political instability and natural disasters. He says that the country has been placed on the road of progress when many nations are facing recession. The world economy is struggling to gain momentum and to come out of the last financial crisis. As a matter of fact, every country in the world is racing against time to attract foreign investment. Businessmen want security of their life and property and tend to invest their money in a country where there is political stability, tax concessions and limited regulatory barriers. Pakistan is a country of 200 million people
40 percent of which consists of young people. The country offers cheap and skilled labour force and business potentials for the local and foreign investors. Due to its geographical location, the country is a gateway not only for the Central Asian States and China, but also for most of the SAARC countries. The geographical location also makes Pakistan an attractive destination for Arab and European investors. OICCI consists of 195 leading investors from 35 countries with representation in 14 business sectors. According to a survey, the Business Confidence Index of the country rose from positive 1 percent in October 2014 to positive 18 percent in March this year.
The government has to take urgent steps to raise the country’s position in ease of doing business index in which it has recently dropped 10 points. Besides, it has to ensure smooth electricity supply, introduce structural reforms in the tax collection system and reduce electricity, oil and gas tariffs. The national currency is losing its strength which needs to be supported while the foreign investors need respect and regard from the government functionaries. No doubt the nation is resilient and survived every big shock, but it has to keep its house in order to convince the world community that Pakistan is a safer place for investment.
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Russia, China agree to expand bilateral trade MOSCOW: E-commerce has boosted cross-border trade between China and Russia. The digital era has helped bring cheaper Russian goods, especially food, to Chinese doorsteps, quicker than ever before. During last month’s China-Russia expo in Harbin, Northeast China’s Heilongjiang province, organic Russian food such as flour, honey, beer, vegetable oil and fruit juice featured prominently. Heilongjiang, which shares a 3,000-kilometer border with Russia, is an important gateway to the country. Goods from there enjoy a “one-stop customs clearance” service in Suifenhe, and can be in China within two hours, according to Wang Jianpeng, general manager of Eshanghui, a Russian food e-commerce firm. Wang was attending the expo, which attracted nearly 10,000 businesspeople from 103 countries and regions this year, promoting his WeChat account. “Organic Russian food is very popular in China,” he said.
Belarus interested in importing Sialkot-made sports, surgical goods everal companies of Belarus have shown keen interest in import of Sialkot-made sports goods and surgical instrument direct from SialkotPakistan instead of importing these products on very high prices from the other European countries as well. Ac-
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cording to the local officials of Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), the interesting Belarusian companies have formally contacted TDAP , seeking help and necessary guideline from TDAP and the leading chambers of commerce of Pakistan including Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), in this regard. The TDAP senior officials added that Belarus was intending to develop the strengthened trade ties with Pakistan, besides, stressing the need of making all out sincere efforts, in this regard. They said that Belarus was also developing its international banking system for facilitating national and international investors and the business community for bringing them to Belarus. The Sialkot exporters could have very good opportunities to develop their trade business in Belarus and in European Union (EU) countries trough Belarus, which could play a role of gateway for Sialkot exporters to EU as well, the several leading exporters of Sialkot added. TDAP officials narrated that the Belarus also intending to develop the strong business-tobusiness links between Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) and Belarus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), saying that this step would also help to explore the mutual trade potential between the two countries.—CB Report
Thursday November 12, 2015
Chambers
LccI, BeLccI signs Mou to promote economic ties L
LAHORE
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ahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and Mogilev Branch of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BELCCI) have inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Tuesday in the presence of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Belarusian counterpart Andrey Kobyakov. The LCCI President Sheikh Muhammad Arshad inked the MOU on behalf of the LCCI while Mogilev Branch of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry was represented by its Chairman M. Miatlikov. LCCI and BELCCI have agreed to develop cooperation for more effective assistance to business undertaking of their regions in all kinds of foreign economic activity development. Both organizations will deal with the organization of business contacts, seminars, business meetings, presentations, exhibitions, fairs holdings and other arrangements to make potential partners be familiarized with economy and export possibilities avail-
able in the two countries. Both organizations will supply each other information of legislative and normative acts, regulating the foreign economic activities, of enterprises and companies – their potential partners, of held exhibitions and fairs and of other questions of mutual interest. LCCI and BELCCI will assist each other in small and
medium size business development, search for partners for trade and joint ventures, as well as render other services of interest for business entities of the both parties. Speaking on the occasion, the LCCI President Sheikh Muhammad Arshad said that Belarus is not a traditional market and have a lot of opportunities for Pakistani merchan-
tevtA offers skilled manpower
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FAISALABAD
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s many as 13,500 industrial units registered with Skilled Labour Marketing Information System (SLMIS) web portal of Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (Tevta) are getting appropriate, suitable and skilled manpower as per their demand through this free service, said Waheed Asghar Director SLMIS/Placement cell of TEVTA. He was addressing the industrialists in Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI). He said that CV’s of 74,400 skilled workers have so far been uploaded on this web portal. “Out on these 2,756 belong to Faisalabad”, he said and added that TEVTA is producing sizable number of skilled workers in different trades while
the syllabus of these courses have also been updated in according to the needs of these industrial units. He said that the number of registered industrial units from Faisalabad is dismally poor and TEVTA is planning to launch an awareness campaign so that maximum industrialists could register themselves on this web portal and get the free facility of haunting appropriate skilled workers without any hassle. Continuing, he said that this web portal is also helping passed out students of TEVTA institutions in getting jobs according to their skills. He said that these skilled workers would deRinitely play a major role in improving the productivity as well as quality of the products produced in these institutions. Thus they will also help in curtailing the cost of doing business, he observed. Chaudhary Muhammad Nawaz President Faisalabad Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (FCCI) said that Pakistan is included in top ten countries of the world as regards foreign remittances. He said that the labor force is increasing with a ratio of 3.2 percent per annum. We must equip this force with best technical and vocational skills. If this force was properly managed and exported we could enhance our foreign remittances up to 20 Billion dollars per annum within a short span of 3 years. He said that TEVTA is running 1456 technical institutions across the province, out of which only 12 are housed in Faisalabad district which are insufRicient to cater the needs of skilled workers of around 20 thousand industrial units of this city. He said that TEVTA should send its students to industrial units during summer vacations to work as volunteers and get practical experience in their speciRic trade.
dise. He said that MOU between the LCCI and Mogilev Branch of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BELCCI) would go a long way and help Pakistani goods to Rind their way in the Belarusian market. Sheikh Muhammad Arshad said that ample opportunities exist in a number of sectors including Construction and Energy sectors of Pakistan and now it is duty of the policy makers to make the visit of Belarusian leader meaningful. He called for exchange of business delegations so that both the sides could have Rirst hand knowledge of the available opportunities in Pakistan and Belarus. He said that both the countries have marvelous untapped business potential that needs to be realized by maximizing the involvement of private sectors of the two countries. He hoped that the economic relation between the two countries would strengthen further to create a win-win situation for Pakistan and Belarus. Sheikh Muhammad Arshad said the time has come that the businessmen of both the countries should enhance their bilateral relations which will be beneRicial for the people of both the countries.
IMF, WB policies termed ‘financial terrorism’ leading business watchdog of the country has termed the policies of International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) as ‘financial terrorism’. Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF) President Mian Zahid Hussain, who is also first Vice Chairman of FPCCI Businessmen Panel said that IMF and World Bank policies are pushing developing countries to bankruptcy to achieve objectives of the west. Many countries are reeling under pressure despite getting loans to the tunes of billions while some have been bankrupted due to dictatorship in the lending institutions that prefer objectives of US and some European countries over everything, he said.—CB Report
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Philippines Customs collection fall 0.75% in Oct Thursday November 12, 2015
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MANILA: Customs collection fell for the fourth straight month in October, pulled down by lower prices of petroleum products, the agency said over the weekend. Preliminary data from the Bureau of Customs showed import tariff collection fell 0.7 percent in October to P31.8 billion from P34.2 billion in the same month last year. It also dropped from P32.65 billion collected in September. The bureau said actual collection in October also missed the P42.9-billion target for the month by 26 percent. The figure brought total collection by the agency, which accounts for about a fifth of government revenues, to P299 billion in the first 10 months, or 57 billion short of the P355.95-billion target for the period. Customs Commissioner Alberto Lina earlier said the government lost between P50 billion and P75 billion in tariff collections from oil imports this year because of weak crude prices.
uS customs eases officials from wearing body cameras WASHINGTON
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ustoms and Border Protection staff concluded after an internal review that agents and ofRicers shouldn't be required to wear body cameras, positioning the nation's largest law enforcement agency as a counterweight to a growing number of police forces that use the devices to promote public trust and accountability. The yearlong review cited cost and a host of other reasons to hold off, according to two people familiar with the Rindings who spoke on condition of anonymity because the Rindings have not been made public. It found operating cameras may distract agents while they're performing their jobs, may hurt employee morale, and may be unsuited to the hot, dusty conditions in which Border Patrol agents often work. The Rindings, in an August draft
trichy customs foils attempt to smuggle 1.148m foreign currency at airport
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resident of Trichy was caught on Sunday while attempting to smuggle foreign currency worth 11.48 lakh from the city airport to Malaysia. This is the second such incident in a span of two days. Customs ofRicials, in recent days, have begun tightening security after reports of currency being smuggled from the Trichy International Airport. Khaja Mohammed, 40, was caught while trying to smuggle the currency to Malaysia on Sunday morning. According to the customs ofRicials, the passenger was trying to smuggle the currency by concealing the wads of notes in the clothes in his luggage. However, it was not enough to escape the high end x-ray scanners at the airport. —CB Report
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report, are subject to approval by Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske, who last year announced plans to test cameras at the agency that employs roughly 60,000 people. The staff report doesn't rule out body cameras but questions their effectiveness and calls for more analysis before they are widely distributed. Customs and Border Protection said Friday that it has been transparent about its body camera effort from the start, providing regular public updates.
"The draft report referenced is a dated version that does not reRlect the agency's deliberations over the past months or conclusions of CBP leadership," it said in a statement. From the start, Kerlikowske was noncommittal on whether to introduce body cameras to roughly 21,000 Border Patrol agents who watch thousands of miles of borders with Mexico and Canada, and to roughly 24,000 Customs and Border Protection ofRicers who manage ofRicial ports of entry.
Cambuslang Customs seizes £900,000 cash in plastic bags
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ark AndersonMohammed Amin Mirza owns a number of Nisa stores, including this one on Western Road, Cambuslang. Customs ofRicers found £900,000 in cash stuffed in carrier bags during raids on a grocer's home and shops. Shocked investigators found £400,000 at Mohammed Ameen Mirza's luxury home and a further £500,000 stashed in a safe at one of his stores. The discoveries were made during a probe into an alleged
£4million VAT fraud, the Daily Record reports. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and Police Scotland took part in raids at Mirza’s villa in Glasgow’s Pollokshields and three stores in the city. They searched his Nisa outlets in Cambuslang , the Gorbals and Haghill. And £500,000 was discovered at the shop in Cambuslang in bundles of notes. A source said: “OfRicers just couldn’t believe the amount of cash they found. —CB Report
ubai Customs' amphibious car environment-friendly and Ritted with 10 sophisticated inspection equipment During its participation in Gitex Technology Week 2015, held at the Dubai World Trade Centre from October 18 to 22 2015, Dubai Customs officially launched the ‘amphibious car,’ one of the innovations of the department to improve its performance. Dubai Customs is keen to adapt modern techniques to do daily work with the highest quality and achieve its vision of ‘a world leading customs administration in supporting legitimate trade,’ to protect society and promote economic development. The ‘Amphibious Car,’ one of the
tools developed by Dubai Customs in recent times, received praise from His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, during his visit to Dubai Customs stand at the 35th Gitex Technology Week. The idea of ‘Amphibious Car’ was also supported by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council, and he expressed his happiness during the opening of the exhibition. The amphibious car is an environment-friendly car, Ritted with 10 sophisticated inspection equipment, all solar-powered, and this innovation is the Rirst of its kind in customs work in the UAE, and helps to save time and detect marine risks of steamboats and wooden vessels which arrives in large numbers at the coastal ports of Dubai.
hk customs destroys counterfeit goods showroom during investigation
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ong Kong Customs on November 3 smashed a syndicate suspected of selling counterfeit goods by operating an upstairs showroom in Causeway Bay. Acting on information provided by members of the public, Customs ofRicers conducted a strike-andsearch operation and cracked down on an upstairs showroom in Causeway Bay. The showroom, situated in a residential building, was not open to the public and only served acquainted customers. In the opera-
tion, more than 900 items of suspected counterfeit products valued at about $620,000, including ladies apparel and leather goods, were seized. Two women and one man, all aged 45, were arrested. They have been released on bail pending further investigation. Customs will continue to take stringent enforcement actions to combat infringing activities. Members of the public are recommended to purchase items at shops with good reputations. —CB Report
Nigeria seeks customs support to fight terrorism
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he Nigeria Customs Service has as its core functions the collection of excise duties and accounting for same; and prevention and suppression of smuggling. Some other of its functions include: trade facilitation, collection of levies and
charges, implementation of government Riscal measures, amongst others. They also support the combating of illegal trade in arms and ammunition, illegal trade in endangered species, illegal trade in cultural artefacts, import of fake and substandard goods, importation of pornographic materials, trafRic of illicit drugs and money laundering. This places the
institution as a steward of Nigeria’s trade and border management, and as such, they are given the task of policing the nation’s borders against threats. However, threats come in various forms. But currently of serious concern is the threat of terrorist activities which have destroyed many lives and properties especially in the North-east region for more than half
a decade without any sign of abating. Both women and children have now been indoctrinated into this deadly activity and have been seen to be as deadly as their male counterparts. This have raised some pertinent questions such as: why do they kill? How do they procure their weapons? Who are their sponsors? There is a litany of other related questions begging for answers.
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Port of Rotterdam to raise tariffs in 2016 ROTTERDAM: The tariffs which visiting sea-going vessels pay in the port of Rotterdam will increase by 0.5% next year, half of the past year’s inflation rate, Rotterdam Port Authority said. This is in accordance with the three-year agreement made last year between Deltalinqs, VRC, VNPI and the Port Authority on changes to the port tariffs. At the time, the parties agreed to allow an increase in tariffs equal to half of the inflation rate, with a maximum of 1% per annum, for a period of three years. In the container sector, the Port Authority said it would increase the discount for containers as it aims to increase the number of transhipment containers at the port.
Zacks upgrade shares of Genco Shipping & Trading acks upgraded shares of Genco Shipping & Trading from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors, MarketBeat reports. According to Zacks, “Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd. is a ship owning company. It transport iron ore, coal, grain, steel products and other drybulk cargoes along shipping routes. The company owned fleet of dry cargo vessels which consists of Capesize, Panamax, Ultramax, Supramax, Handymax and Handysize vessels. Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd. is based in New York, United States. “ The firm has a market capitalization of $117.97 million and a P/E ratio of 0.19. The company’s 50 day moving average is $3.41 and its 200 day moving average is $4.98. Genco Shipping & Trading has a one year low of $1.80 and a one year high of $7.85. Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.39) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of ($0.34) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.07 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Genco Shipping & Trading will post ($1.80) EPS for the current fiscal year. —CB Report
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gc rieber Shipping settles with ceona administrator orway’s GC Rieber Shipping has come to an agreement with the administrators for subsea contractor Ceona, which ceased operations in September. GC Rieber Shipping terminated the contract for subsea construction support vessel Polar Onyx, which was chartered to Ceona, after the Londonbased company defaulted on a payment. As part of a full and final settlement with the administrators of Ceona, GC Rieber Shipping will take ownership of the VLS tower and associated parts installed on the vessel and will be paid around $16.3m from the cash deposit established as part of the charter agreement. Polar Onyx began a five-year charter to Ceona in March 2014 and was employed in advanced deep-water operations with Petronas in Brazil. —CB Report
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Ports & Shipping
Thursday November 12, 2015
west Africa to build at least six 1 million plus teu ports LAGOS
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rowing competition between shipping lines in Europe and China to develop new logistics hubs in West Africa and serve growing container trafRic in the region is expected to bring at least six ports with capacities of 1 million 20-foot-equivalent units or more online over the next decade. The six largest ports in the region handled about half of the 7.5 million twenty-foot equivalents moving through the 18-country region, according to Rigures from maritime consultancy Drewry. Lagos, Nigeria, leads the pack, having handled 1.5 million TEUs last year, followed by Luanda, Angola, with 950,000 TEUs; and Tema, Ghana, with 850,000 TEUs. Rounding out the top six are Pointe Noire, Congo; Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and Dakar, Senegal. Even more capacity will be needed to handle Africa trade growth, which has slowed because of the drop in global oil and other commodity prices, but is expected to rebound in the long-term, Peder Sondergaard, head of APM Terminals’ Africa-Middle East region, told JOC.com. Deep-sea ports could add as much as 12 million TEUs in capacity by 2020. Capacity in West Africa is roughly 10 million TEUs at present. “The key thing happening in West Africa now is the development of
deep-water transshipment hubs like Lome and the new greenRield developments in Nigeria,” Neil Davidson, senior analyst ports and terminals at Drewry Maritime Research, said. That’s because most West Africa ports can only handle vessels up to around 5,000 TEUs. Services at the ports are heavily weighted toward Europe routes, with the top three global carriers, Maersk Line, Mediterranean Shipping Co. and CMA CGM, providing the majority of the capacity. But as investment from China Rlows into the region’s oil and gas sectors, more services connecting to Asia are expected, Davidson said. Although vessel sizes have grown across the board, it is mainly Asia services that have seen the greatest increase, with an average vessel size on these routes of over 3,000 TEUs in 2015, as opposed to under 2,000 TEUs on Europe services. One key reason for this disparity is that Asia services stand to make greater cost savings by utilizing
larger vessels on longer haul trips. This drive for larger ships is in turn one of the key factors fuelling demand for mega-ports with drafts of 49 feet or more. These depths are needed to berth mega-ships with capacities of up to 18,000 TEUs. While many of China’s investments are linked directly to speciRic infrastructure projects, the International Transport Forum found the rest of the sector is seeing increased collaboration between terminal operators as developers seek to distribute risks. “What is fairly new is the cooperation between the largest global terminal operators. For the moment, most of these joint ventures are concentrated in certain geographical areas, in particular China, West Africa and North Europe, but the number of joint ventures of global terminal operators is expected to grow,” according to the ITF. These joint ventures are growing in popularity due to the challenges and costs of developing infrastructure in the region.
States dig into their wallets in a race to deepen US ports ired of waiting for Congress, states racing to deepen seaports before the opening of the enlarged Panama Canal next year are picking up the cost of what has traditionally been a federal duty. With funding for coastal navigation channels at its lowest in a decade, port directors worry that the federal government is abandoning construction and maintenance of U.S. waterways just as builders churn out a new generation of huge container vessels. The so-called postPanamax class carries loads twice the size of current ships and demand ever-deeper harbors. At least four ports in Florida, Georgia and Texas have decided to foot the bill to deepen federal waterways, a total of almost half a billion dollars, rather than wait years for funds. To berth post-Panamax ships, ports typically need 50 feet of depth — there are only four on the U.S. East Coast. Smaller facilities are looking for an edge to gain a bigger piece of the $4.6 trillion in economic activity generated at U.S. ports last year, a quarter of the gross domestic product. “Efficiency’s the name of the game,” said John E. Walsh, chief executive officer of the Canaveral Port Authority in Cape Canaveral, Florida, which is funding a deepening project with state and local money. “You will either be a port that can be a stop or you’re not.” For more than a century, the U.S. government has been responsible for maintaining navigable waterways, with Congress traditionally authorizing projects overseen by the Army Corps of Engineers and appropriating funds. —CB Report
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South korea mulls a restructuring of shipping firms
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hares of two shipping companies, Hanjin Shipping and Hyundai Merchant Marine, plummeted on a report that the government was discussing whether to merge or sell them off in an attempt at state-led industrial restructuring. Hanjin Shipping saw its stock drop 4.76 percent to close at 4,700 won ($4), while Hyundai Merchant Marine saw a much sharper drop, de-
clining 13.78 percent to 5,130 won. Institutional and foreign investors started unloading shares after the JoongAng Ilbo reported exclusively on Monday that a vice-ministerial meeting on restructuring, which was organized and led by the Financial Services Commission and vice ministers of each ministry, has asked whether Korea needs to keep both shippers, both of which have a lot of debt. Some government ofRicials reportedly discussed the fundamental solution of selling off the companies at last week’s meeting.
“We need to analyze if Korea has to keep its current system, in which two large companies exist as the national shipping companies,” said an unidentiRied representative from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, which is in charge of the shipping industry. “If needed, we need to consider more fundamental solutions like sell-offs.” With the companies’ merger being made as an ofRicial item of discussion, the vice ministers will discuss more at a regular meeting, which may take place as early as this
week. The government already suggested a voluntary merger of the two companies unofRicially, the JoongAng Ilbo report said, but the two were known to have rebuffed the idea. Hanjin Shipping, an afRiliate of Hanjin Group founded in 1977, is the nation’s largest player in the industry. Hyundai Merchant Marine is the No. 2 player and an afRiliate of Hyundai Group, which was managed by the late Chung Mong-hun and is now managed by his widow Hyun Jeong-eun, the current chairwoman of the group.
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FIA arrests notorious human trafficker from Gujrat SIALKOT: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has arrested a notorious human trafficker Muhammad Zaman from Gujrat. According to Deputy Director FIA Gujranwala Chaudhary Khalid Anees, the accused was the ring leader of the gang of the human traffickers and he was wanted in a large number of cases of human trafficking. He said that the FIA teams raided an area in Gujrat and arrested the accused after an encounter.
Thursday, November 12, 2015
CUSTOMS BULLETIN
customs tribunal DB-I becomes dysfunctional after technical Member khalid’s transfer ISLAMABAD NAeeM uLLAh tArIQ www.customsbulletin.com
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ivision bench of the Customs Appellate Tribunal has become dysfunctional as Tribunal’s Member Technical, Khalid Mehmood has been appointed as managing director of Overseas Employment Corporation (OEC). As a result of Mehmood’s transfer to OEC, CAT Division Bench-I, which used to comprise CAT Chairman Ghulam Murtaza Bhatti and Member Technical, Khalid Mehmood has become dysfunctional. Sources privy to Customs Today stated that the division bench will remain dysfunctional till appointment of another member. The chairman could not hold hearing in DB alone. They said ministry of law and justice was supposed to appoint member in replacement of Mehmood, however, the chairman could also make bench functional by calling any member from regional ofRices of tribunal. The chairman was likely to call a member from Karachi or Lahore in order to sustain hearing at Islamabad which would start from No-
vember 17, they added. Meanwhile, A division bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday issued notices to the Appellate Tribunal Inland Revenue
(ATIR). The IHC bench comprising Justice Noor-ul-Haq N Qureshi and Justice Aamer Farooq issued notices while hearing income tax references filed by Telenor Pakistan
(Private) Limited. The company had filed around four references challenging ATIR decisions. Through these notices, the IHC has directed the ATIR to review its de-
cisions. Telenor Pakistan had requested the court to issue notice to ATIR for revisiting its verdicts owing to certain unanswered questions pertaining to the law.
palwasha tells exporters to attach electronic Form-e with gDs SIALKOT
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ssistant Collector Model Customs Sialkot Palwasha Syed has said that all exports handled through Web Based One Customs (WeBOC) will require electronic Form-E with their goods declarations for speedy clearance from November 11. She said that electronic Form-E facility has been introduced in We-
BOC with effect from November 2, 2015. To facilitate exporters in obtaining their electronic forms from authorized banks, an intervening period has been allowed during which they can Rile requisite applications using their secure WeBOC login/password. She advised all the exporters to apply to their respective banks for issuance of electronic Form-E to avoid delay in shipments. In order to streamline issuance of Form-E, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Pakistan Customs had initiated a project for the au-
tomation of the process of issuing forms. In this regard, an Electronic Form-E (EFE) module has been developed in consultation with relevant stakeholders and incorporated in the Pakistan Customs’ electronic system WeBOC. Talking to Customs Today Palwasha Syed said the landmark development was expected to provide several beneRits to stakeholders including reduced cost of doing business for exporters, efRicient processing of duty draw back claims, elimination of fake/forged Form-E, im-
prove repatriation of foreign exchange, besides bringing efRiciency to the current system. Customs Internal Audit and External Audit have detected loss of revenue and foreign exchange to the tune of billions of rupees through fake Form-E that will be plugged revenue leakages. Meanwhile, The Model Customs Collectorate has handled exports worth Rs 11.1 billion during October 2015, showing an increase of 15.6 percent as compared to the exports during the same period of the last Riscal year 2014. The total export during the period in ques-
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tion was Rs 9.6 billion. Leather and leather items, sports goods, surgical instruments and other items were exported through the Sialkot Customs. OfRicials said that such growth in export has been observed due to smooth provision of export-related facilities and rapid clearance of export consignments. Highlighting the performance of Collector Ahmed Reza Khan, they said that “His Rirst month tenure is recorded as the best performance of generating revenue.” Collector Khan is giving special attention to boost the performance of the collectorate.