ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Shabbar Zaidi has asked the Customs Department to update new units of measurement within a week in accordance with the World Customs Organisation (WCO) guidelines to address the difficulties faced by importers and exporters.

The statement said the move will help improve ease of doing business.

The WCO guidelines will help bring the national trade data in conformity with international standards and the units of measurement.

The uniformity not only helps in collection, comparison and analysis of trade statistics but also simplify the process of assessment resulting in speedy clearance of goods.

The standard units of measurements were previously notified by the FBR in 2012. However the standards, which need to be revisited and updated on a regular basis, have not been updated in the last seven years.

After the issuance of new Customs General Order, all field formations of the Customs Department will be directed to adopt standard units of quantity/measurement whereas importers/clearing agents/shipping agents will be required to fill invoices/documents in line with new standards, added the announcement.

EOU scheme

The FBR has amended the Export Oriented Units (EOU) scheme to facilitate small and medium enterprises to enhance the country’s exports through adoption of latest technologies.

The announcement for the amendments came in the last budget; however the notification for the SRO1002 was issued on Friday.

The amendments aim to simplify the process for small and medium enterprises to upgrade their units by adopting the latest technology.

As per the amendments, retention period of plant, machinery and capital goods has been reduced from 10 years to five years.

Moreover, in case of plant, machinery and capital goods being sold or otherwise disposed of before the expiration of five years, then different slabs of duty and taxes have been introduced in the notification whereas after five years, disposal of such plant and machinery is allowed without payment of duty and taxes.

Similarly, disposal mechanism of spares and replacement parts has also been allowed for the period of three years.

To address delays in processing, tiers of administration have also been reduced through introduction of new regulatory authority and the powers have been devolved to additional collector to grant, revalidate or amend export-oriented unit licenses.

Under the new scheme, if businesses face any problems, they can approach Chief Collector of Customs for redressal of their grievances.

In order to alleviate the burden of getting the analysis card issued from Input Output Coefficient Organisation (IOCO) or Engineering Development Board (EDB) against each license, if ratio in the analysis certificate is similar to the ratio determined in the previous year, then the regulatory authority will issue the license without seeking recommendations from IOCO/EDB.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2019