ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) announced on Saturday that it will implement the Faceless Customs Assessment (FCA) System in Karachi starting Sunday as part of the transformation of the tax machinery.

FCA is one of the key components of the FBR Transformation Plan, which Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif recently approved. The transformation plan primarily focuses on digitalising business processes to document tax collection better.

An official announcement said that all the import goods declarations filed in the Appraisement Collectorates of Karachi would be allocated to the Central Appraising Unit (CAU), established at South Asia Pakistan Terminal Karachi, for assessment.

The introduction of FCA is expected to bring a significant change in the overall culture and working of the Customs Department. It would facilitate trade by reducing the clearance time and also induce assessment efficiency and transparency.

After completing the first phase at Karachi, the system would soon be rolled out at the upcountry ports and border stations. Customs’ appraisement function would be relocated outside the Customs Collectorates.

All the arrangements have been finalised for the housing of appraisers and principal appraisers in a sanitised environment, and 55 officers have already been posted to the CAU.

An incentive-based performance management mechanism has been introduced to enhance productivity and ensure accountability of the customs appraising officers.

The eligibility criteria and licencing regime of Customs Clearing Agents have also been revamped, and a points scoring system is being introduced to make them responsible for the correct and quality declarations.

Under the point scoring system, the customs agents who give true and honest declarations of description, value origin, etc., will score more points and improve their profile.

On the contrary, the customs agents who fail to show improvements in the declarations would lose points, and eventually, their licence may be cancelled, added the announcement.

Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2024