ISLAMABAD, Jan 11: Federal Tax Ombudsman Justice Saleem Akhtar has directed the collector of Port Qasim to release the withheld consignments of betel nuts which are fit for human consumption on payment of duty and taxes.
The Ombudsman asked the Central Board of Revenue to set aside the order of the collectors of customs, Port Qasim, of confiscating the consignments and direct him to decide the case immediately.
According to judgment released on Saturday, Justice Akhtar directed the CBR to ask the collector to approach the HEJ Institute to depute their representative to collect samples at random, in the presence of the representatives of the complainants and the customs carry out retest, at the cost of the importers and give their considered opinion whether the betel nuts are fit for human consumption or not.
The Ombudsman said in the light of report, the betel nuts fit for human consumption be released on payment of duty with recommendation to the port authorities for waiver of demurrage of that quantity.
The compliance report should be produced within two months of this order, said the Ombudsman.
Complainant, Kanwal Impex, imported betel nuts on the permission of department of plant protection, Ministry of Food and Agriculture on March 21, 2000.
According to the complainant, the plant protection agency examined the consignments and ordered its release. However, the customs examiner reported contrary that betel nuts were 65 per cent fit for human consumption and 35 per cent contained pores, holes and were not fit for human consumption.
At the recommendation of the customs department, the plant protection department again examined the betel nuts and observed that 60 per cent to 70 per cent of the goods were in good condition and the remaining were fit for industrial use.
The Ombudsman observed that there was no jurisdiction for retaining the consignments at the port; the refusal to allow shifting of the goods to warehouses exposed them to rapid deterioration and unnecessary accumulation of huge port demurrage charges.
When it was reported by the plant protection officials on examination of the consignments that 50 to 70 per cent were in good condition and the remaining portion were infected, the customs authorities should have asked the importer to segregate the uninfected goods and release the same on payment of duty and taxes, which was not done, observed the Ombudsman.