Mr. Atif Ikram Sheikh, President of FPCCI, has said that the business community supports the implementation of the Faceless Customs Assessment (FCA) system in the customs department to reduce human interaction and increase the use of technology. Mr. Atif Ikram Sheikh demanded that traders should be facilitated through an increase in green channel clearance; minimizing dwell time and full operationalization of the complaints resolution cell for timely redressal of issues, grievances, and serious apprehensions, and traders’ financial losses and costs should be curtailed.
Mr. Atif Ikram Sheikh stressed that the dwell time in Pakistan is approximately 7.7 days; which is almost double as compared to its regional competitors; other countries with similar economic conditions and much higher than international best practices – resulting in perpetuating financial losses for traders of the country on account of demurrages, detention charges, storage costs and cost of capital stuck in the process.
It is pertinent to note that Mr. Wajid Ali, Chief Collector, Customs Appraisement South, visited FPCCI Head Office, Federation House Karachi, for a detailed, interactive and consultative session with the business, industry and trade community to address their issues and grievances vis-à-vis customs appraisement.
In a significant show of support to the business community, Mr. Wajid Ali, Chief Collector, Customs Appraisement South, said that more than 80% traders, particularly the industrial importers, declare their consignments honestly; therefore, the authorities want to expand and empower the system to extend the facility of the green channel to compliant traders.
Mr. Wajid Ali continued that planning, coordination, and implementation efforts are underway to progressively minimize the human contact and interaction to make the customs department more efficient, business-friendly, transparent, and fair. The customs department sincerely wants to facilitate trade and industry in all manners that are practically possible and permitted under the regulations, he added.
Mr. Saquib Fayyaz Magoon, SVP FPCCI, highlighted that the complaints resolution cell has become inactive in dealing with genuine, legitimate, and time-sensitive complaints of the importers, which is resulting in demurrages and detention charges unnecessarily.
Mr. Saquib Fayyaz Magoon maintained that the business, industry, and trade community welcomes the plan to implement an Artificial Intelligence (AI) based customs valuation system, as it will align the country with the emerging trends in trade, and will be more precise, swift, and error-free.
Mr. Asif Sakhi, VP FPCCI, appreciated the Faceless Customs Assessment (FCA) system being implemented to increase transparency, efficiency, and revenue collection – as the system randomly assigns import goods declarations to assessing officers in a Central Appraisement Unit (CAU) and keeps both parties anonymous.
Mr. Asif Sakhi elaborated that the recommendations by FPCCI on Customs Appraisement represent the aggregate feedback of 290+ chambers, associations, and trade bodies of the entire country, as FPCCI is the apex trade body of the country. Hence, FPCCI offers a platform to the customs department that can be effectively utilized for improvements and efficiency of customs processes for the whole nation.
Mr. Arshad Jamal, Convener of FPCCI’s Central Standing Committee on Economic Services Operations, explained that FPCCI only supports the genuine and lawful complaint resolution of the traders in an expeditious manner, and its recommendations should be given due weightage.
