KARACHI, April 26: A pilot project — Customs Administrative Reforms (CARE) — will start working in Karachi initially by the end of this year and later it will be extended to all over the country.
The system will work 24 hours a day and seven days a week, providing on-line information about the consignment/container and ensuring no association between party and higher customs officials and self-assessment by the party.
The implementation of proposed CARE will help importers in pre-arrival clearance of their goods, reduce cost to the business, provide automated and hassle-free environment, introduce simple and standardization procedures.
Deputy Collector Customs, Ashir Azim, in a presentation about the new system at the FPCCI at Federation House, said that presently the delay in clearance was due to 100 per cent examination (not existing any where in the world) and highly personalized system and complex verification system, says a press release of the FPCCI.
He said the new system would help government in earning more revenue and ensuring good governance. He added that the Customs Department was working with the concerned government authorities for amendment in the Customs Act wherever necessary for the success of the system.
Collector Customs (Preventive), Mahboob Saqib Khan said the system would be user-friendly and the audit would be done on the basis of standardized data and will help paperless environment in clearance of goods from customs.
He said Customs Appraisement has assessed imports valuing about Rs261 billion during the current financial year as against the declared value of Rs254 billion, thus increasing the revenue by Rs1.75 billion which was far less than the cost paid by the department to earn this amount and the cost to trade of about Rs1.3 billion on account of demurrage, godown charges, inventory cost etc.
FPCCI president Riaz Tata and FPCCI standing committee on customs and dry ports chairman Mansha Churra said that the new system, if implemented, would help the business community in timely clearance of their imported goods and reduce cost.
