November 25, 2008	Tuesday	Ziqa'ad 26, 1429

KARACHI, Nov 24: The government is working on a plan to hand over revenue collection at customs stage to a Kuwaiti company listed in the United States.

According to official sources, the company has held negotiations with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and a draft agreement is reported to have been finalised.

Under the public-private partnership agreement, the sources said, the FBR would launch a company to act on behalf of the government.

The company will design, develop and operate the software for the project, but customs insiders say there is a thin line between running the system and collecting revenue.

Some sections have expressed apprehensions that in the process of negotiations the FBR may compromise the country’s ‘revenue sovereignty’ and stressed the need for involving experienced negotiators in the process, instead of leaving such a sensitive matter in the hands of some ‘file-pushers’.

They also suggest that consultations should be held with all stakeholders, including the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry before the agreement is signed, in order to avoid pitfalls and protect national interests.

Care should also be taken, they said, to ensure that the intellectual property rights in respect of the database and its software were solely held by the government of Pakistan.

Besides ensuring transparency in the negotiations, they said, the FBR should also get approval from the cabinet. Preferably, the matter should be taken to the National Assembly and thoroughly debated.

They also stressed the need for holding workshops and seminars to discuss the pros and cons of all the clauses of the agreement. Care should also be taken, they said, to ensure that revenue collection at all levels, customs and elsewhere, remained under the domain of the government.

Even processing charges taken from importers and exporters should be collected by the government and then disbursed to the company.

The sources said that a team from the Kuwaiti company was due on Tuesday, Nov 25, for signing the agreement but there were reports that the visit had been delayed for some reasons.