August 6, 2002	Tuesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 26,1423

ISLAMABAD, Aug 5: The government is set to make profiles of all those importers and exporters enjoying good reputation so that they could have their consignments cleared before the arrival of the ship.

The basic objectives of the plan are to have a balance between trade facilitation and customs control and to minimize contact between taxpayers and tax collectors.

The revamping of the customs was one of the conditionalities of the IMF for releasing the next tranche of Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility scheme.

According to the customs reform plan report, a detailed profile of the person in Pakistan, consignee in case of importers and consigner in case of exporters will be maintained by the Customs department in the revamped administration.

Based on pre-determined criterion and profiles of importers/ exporters, it was proposed to clear the cargo without undergoing customs physical examination.

The profile would include information on the corporate status — sole proprietor, partnership, private limited company, public limited company, multinationals, public sector organizations, diplomatic and government. The other aspects to be considered would be port of shipment/destination, commodity, weight, etc.