KARACHI, June 1: The Central Board of Revenue (CBR) has once again changed its stance over the issue of detained and seized trucks and buses by allowing the customs authorities to release all such vehicles on getting payment of duty, taxes and redemption fine.

However, the funny part of the new directives issued through notification C. No10(17)L&P/05 dated May 31, 2007, it allows release of these detained vehicles from March 17, 2007 under SRO255(I)/2007 to be cleared on most normal terms and minimum documents which are needed in routine by customs authorities.Unfortunately the government had been claiming that it has finished SRO culture but contrary to this as many as four SROs have been issued in a single issue each overruling the previous.

But in the process it has damaged the government’s position besides incurring huge losses to importers and individual owners of these vehicles in the shape of demurrage and detention charges.

The customs authorities immediately after the issuance of SRO 255(I)/2007 on March 17 stopped clearing all such vehicles but another SRO from the CBR issued on May 10 allowed release of vehicles. However, within a week the CBR issued yet another SRO on May 16, putting harsh conditions of making available long list of documents to get detained vehicles cleared and also fixed a deadline of May 31, 2007 for clearing these vehicles.

This put importers and owners in a fix as they were of the view that no one could get all such documents available within a short period of 13 days. The CBR also warned in that SRO that all vehicles which have not been cleared by the deadline would be auctioned.

Normally import consignments are cleared by presenting Goods Declaration (GD) which carries all necessary information of the consignment including date of loading and other specification of goods.

The long list of documents sought by the CBR for the clearance of detained vehicles included load port goods declaration (GD), Export General Manifest (EGM), Mate Receipt (MR) and carrier bill of lading.

However, the CBR’s SRO of May 31 has ultimately withdrawn all those harsh conditions which were put in earlier SROs and only sought routine nature of documents required for the clearance of any import consignment.

The CBR directives have asked the collectors to ensure that vehicles have been shipped or exported to Pakistan before March 17, 2007 and it has again fixed the deadline of June 7, 2007 for getting this facility of clearing detained trucks and buses.