Mr. Saquib Fayyaz Magoon, Acting President of FPCCI, has said that the business community supports the Faceless Customs Assessment (FCA) system in the customs department to reduce human interaction and increase the use of technology. However, operational issues and delays are creating concerns for the trade and industry, prompting FPCCI to propose an in-depth and dedicated consultative process to present its problems, he added.
It is pertinent to note that Mr. Wajid Ali, Chief Collector, Customs Appraisement South, visited FPCCI Head Office, Federation House Karachi, for an interactive session with the business, industry, and trade community to address their issues and grievances vis-à-vis customs appraisement.
Mr. Wajid Ali, Chief Collector, Customs Appraisement South, informed that the Prime Minister has given the target of bringing dwell time to 12 hours through the use of technology and facilitation to traders. Therefore, the customs appraisement department is trying its best to curtail the dwell times to as close to 12 hours as possible.
In a significant show of support to FPCCI, Mr. Wajid Ali announced that the customs department will accept nominations of FPCCI in all committees to address areas of concern.
Mr. Wajid Ali continued that planning, coordination, and implementation efforts are underway to progressively minimize 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, Acting President FPCCI, 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.
Acting FPCCI President stressed that the dwell time in Pakistan 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.
Mr. Abdul Mohamin Khan, VP & Regional Chairman Sindh, 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. Asif Sakhi, VP FPCCI, appreciated the Faceless Customs Assessment (FCA) system 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. Aman Paracha, VP FPCCI, 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.
