Latest news with #GoodsDeclarations
Business Recorder
4 days ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
PCA is ‘functionally weak with less strength': Chief Collector Customs
KARACHI: The Chief Collector of Customs Appraisement South, Jamil Nasir, has challenged the credibility of the Directorate of Post Clearance Audit (PCA), describing it as 'functionally weak with less strength'. Speaking at a press conference at Customs House Karachi on Tuesday, Nasir said that they wanted to strengthen PCA, which is currently weak with less strength, defending the performance of theFaceless Customs Assessment (FCA), system. The post-clearance audit reportedly accused the faceless system of facilitating tax evasion, under-invoicing, and money laundering activities. However, Nasir firmly disputed these claims, stating: 'the findings of money laundering and under-invoicing in the post-clearance audit are not correct.' The Chief Collector emphasised that his department has not yet received the audit report and will provide an appropriate response once it is formally submitted. Despite the audit concerns, Nasir expressed complete satisfaction with the FCA system's operational performance, citing significant improvements in customs clearance efficiency. Under the FCA system, 95 percent of Goods Declarations (GDs) are now being processed and cleared on the same day, a substantial improvement from previous manual processes. The Central Customs Appraisement Unit has extended its operational hours from 8:00 AM to midnight, processing between 1,500 to 2,000 GDs daily; hearing are now being conducted virtually, saving considerable time for importers and clearing agents, while laboratory samples receive same-day processing. The physical examination completion rates for Red Channel GDs have been increased dramatically from approximately 50 percent to 90 percent. Single-item GDs and those filed at off-dock terminals are achieving nearly 100 percent same-day completion rates. Nasir candidly acknowledged internal opposition to the FCA system, adding that there are deliberate attempts within the customs system to undermine the faceless system and other reforms. 'There are efforts being made to make this system fail within customs,' he said, describing the reforms as creating a 'paradigm shift in customs culture' that inevitably produces both supporters and opponents during the transformation process. Addressing specific concerns about vehicle clearances under expatriate Pakistani schemes, Nasir clarified that all processes are being conducted within existing legal frameworks and import policy conditions. He emphasised that no revenue loss is occurring and that clearance procedures remain consistent under the FCA system. The customs chief announced additional trade facilitation measures currently in development, including Direct Port Delivery and Decoupling of Payment from GD filing. These initiatives are expected to further reduce port congestion and alleviate liquidity constraints for importers. 'There is no question of their rollback,' Nasir said, emphasising that the faceless system and associated modernisation reforms will continue as planned. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Express Tribune
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Express Tribune
Customs denies money laundering claims in car imports
Customs officials are pushing back against allegations of money laundering and under-invoicing in the post-clearance audit of luxury vehicle imports, with Chief Collector of Customs Jamil Nasir saying these claims are currently unfounded. Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday with Collector East Tayyaba Kayani and Collector West Shafiq, Nasir clarified that luxury cars are being cleared according to the established procedure that existed before the implementation of the new faceless assessment system. Nasir explained that a post-clearance audit report on the matter has not yet been received. He stated that any analysis of the situation will only be provided after the report is in hand. The Chief Collector acknowledged that the post-clearance audit process is currently weak and is hampered by a shortage of personnel, emphasising the need to strengthen it. Further clarifying the regulations around car imports, Jamil Nasir noted that the Import Policy Order 2022 prohibits the import of old and used cars on a commercial basis. The only exception is for overseas Pakistanis, who are permitted to import vehicles under specific schemes, such as the personal, baggage, and gift schemes. These imports are still subject to the payment of all applicable duties and taxes, which must be paid from the importer's bank account. He said the goal of the reforms is to enhance stakeholder facilitation. Nasir detailed that the Central Appraising Unit is now operational in two shifts, running from 8 am to 12 am. These reforms have already led to faster cargo clearance at ports, with the faceless assessment system now clearing between 1,500 and 2,000 Goods Declarations (GDs) daily. The Central Examination Unit has also started functioning, with efforts to minimise delays.
Express Tribune
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Express Tribune
Customs defends luxury car imports, denies money laundering claims
Listen to article Customs officials are pushing back against allegations of money laundering and under-invoicing in the post-clearance audit of luxury vehicle imports, with Chief Collector of Customs Jamil Nasir saying these claims are currently unfounded. Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday with Collector East Tayyaba Kayani and Collector West Shafiq, Nasir clarified that luxury cars are being cleared according to the established procedure that existed before the implementation of the new faceless assessment system. Nasir explained that a post-clearance audit report on the matter has not yet been received. He stated that any analysis of the situation will only be provided after the report is in hand. The chief collector acknowledged that the post-clearance audit process is currently weak and is hampered by a shortage of personnel, emphasising the need to strengthen it. Further clarifying the regulations around car imports, Nasir noted that the Import Policy Order 2022 prohibits the import of old and used cars on a commercial basis. The only exception is for overseas Pakistanis, who are permitted to import vehicles under specific schemes, such as the personal, baggage, and gift schemes. These imports are still subject to the payment of all applicable duties and taxes, which must be paid from the importer's bank account. He said the goal of the reforms is to enhance stakeholder facilitation. Nasir detailed that the Central Appraising Unit is now operational in two shifts, running from 8 am to 12 am. These reforms have already led to faster cargo clearance at ports, with the faceless assessment system now clearing between 1,500 and 2,000 Goods Declarations (GDs) daily. The Central Examination Unit has also started functioning, with efforts to minimise delays. A virtual hearing system has been introduced to save time, allowing people to participate without having to appear in person. According to the Chief Collector, these reforms are now moving towards a phase of stability, and lab sample reports are also being provided within one day.
Business Recorder
6 days ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
PCA audit report: FCA: Rs38bn revenue losses suffered in 3 months
KARACHI: Pakistan's much-touted Faceless Customs Assessment (FCA) system has suffered a massive revenue loss of Rs. 38 billion during just three months of operations, casting serious doubts over this corruption-proof digital reform. This was revealed in an audit report prepared by the Directorate General of Post Clearance Audit (PCA) for the period from December 16, 2024, to March 15, 2025. The audit was conducted by just nine officers covering the entire PCA South region, compared to over 100 officers facilitating FCA clearances. This severe resource imbalance meant only 8.8 percent of total clearances could be audited, suggesting the actual scale of losses could be far greater. According to the details, the PCA, South has examined 13,140 Goods Declarations (GDs) out of 149,086 total clearances, detecting irregularities in nearly one in every five transactions they have audited. The audit revealed multiple layers of revenue haemorrhaging across different categories of violations. A staggering Rs. 7.44 billion was lost through duty and tax evasion in just 1,524 GDs, averaging over Rs. 3.3 million per declaration. Additionally, Rs. 10.538 billion worth of restricted goods were cleared in violation of Import Policy Order conditions across over 1,006 GDs involving items that should never have passed customs. The most significant loss came from the failure to frame contravention cases as required under regulations, resulting in Rs. 30.364 billion in losses, with less than 2 percent of such cases being officially booked. The reported Rs. 38 billion figure excludes an additional Rs. 23 billion in statutory fines linked to smaller-scale duty evasions, suggesting the actual losses could be substantially higher. Among the most shocking revelations was the massive under-invoicing of luxury vehicles, with discrepancies reaching 91 percent. Out of 1,335 vehicle import GDs reviewed, declarations worth Rs. 670 million were enhanced to Rs. 7.254 billion during assessment, yet even these enhanced valuations were processed without proper verification of foreign remittances. The audit specifically highlighted cases like luxury Toyota Land Cruiser imports being declared at absurdly low values, raising concerns about potential money laundering through illicit channels. The audit also flagged over 4,973 import consignments, including solar panel containers worth Rs. 23.4 billion, that remained unclaimed at ports for unusually long periods, with some delayed by over two years. These containers were cleared on unauthorised National Tax Numbers and Customs User IDs, raising trade-based money laundering concerns worth Rs. 643 million. Even goods subjected to multiple assessment stages showed faulty processing, with 313 GDs wrongly assessed despite full oversight, leading to Rs. 2.11 billion in duty evasion. An additional 58 GDs that passed through Quality Assurance still resulted in Rs. 77.2 million losses, including cases of misclassification, illegal exemptions, undervaluation, and vague goods descriptions. The audit report further said that Pakistan's customs framework has become 'heavily tilted toward blind facilitation,' allowing repeated mis-declarations and tax evasions without accountability. The report warned that limiting visibility of GD particulars under FCA has undermined assessment quality, creating a 'structural lag in the taxation framework.' The PCA South audit report also urged the authority concerned for immediate action, including reinforcing audit directorates with qualified staff, rebalancing the FCA model to restore supervisory checks, digitally flagging GDs for mandatory contravention framing, and launching forensic probes into repeated GD re-filings. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Business Recorder
01-08-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
Solar inverters from China: New values on import of various types issued
ISLAMABAD: The Directorate General of Customs Valuation, Karachi has issued new customs values on the import of 23 different types of solar inverters from China. In this regard, the directorate has issued a new valuation ruling (2015 of 2025) on Thursday. The directorate has issued custom values on the import of three different categories of solar inverters including hybrid solar inverters (9 types), off-grid solar inverters (3 types) and on-grid solar inverters (11 types). Different customs values would be applicable on the import of Hybrid Solar Inverters, On-Grid Solar Inverters and Off-Grid Solar Inverters. The values mentioned for hybrid solar inverters are for brands that are recognised as manufacturers of solar inverters classified as Tier-I companies/internationally or nationally established companies and include: Huawei, Inverex, Goodwe, Growatt, Solis, Sungrow, Fronius, Solax, Sineng, ABB, SMA, and others. These brands import Ingress Protection (IP 65 and IP 66) solar inverters and if other brands import IP 65 and IP 66 hybrid solar inverters, relevant values shall also apply on these goods. Generally, off-grid solar inverters above 06 KWs are not imported. Besides, in case of any further ambiguity regarding the description of mentioned goods, the clearance Collectorate may refer to the manufacturer's website and/or get it tested from reputable labs such as NED or UET, ruling added. Details of the issue revealed that the customs values of solar inverters were previously determined under Section 25-A of the Customs Act, 1969, vide Valuation Ruling No1913 of 2024. This ruling was subsequently challenged under Section 25-D of the Customs Act before the Director General of Customs Valuation, Karachi. In response, the Director General issued Order-in-Revision No 08/2025 dated 04.02.2025, directing are evaluation of the determined values and recommending a further subdivision of the categories (capacities) outlined in the impugned ruling. Accordingly, the Directorate of Customs Valuation initiated a re-determination exercise in line with the provisions of Section 25-A of the Customs Act, 1969. The importers contended that the customs values assigned to solar inverters under the disputed valuation ruling were excessively high and warranted revision. They further proposed that the categorisation of inverters be refined by introducing sub-divisions based on their respective capacities to better reflect market dynamics. In response, the Director of Valuation instructed the stakeholders to furnish relevant documentary evidence-including export Goods Declarations (GDs), Letters of Credit (LCs), and other banking instrument to substantiate their claims. Additionally, concerns were raised regarding definitional ambiguities related to 'off-grid inverters'. These issues were deliberated upon in detail, leading to a clarification of the distinctions between hybrid, on-grid, and off-grid solar inverter types: (i) Hybrid Inverters: A hybrid solar inverter is an inverter that can integrate solar PV power, battery storage and the electrical grid connectivity. This allows solar energy to be used directly, stored for later use, or fed back into the grid (if in excess). As such, generally hybrid invertors contain a separate terminal for feeding excess power into grid. (ii) On-Grid Inverters: An on-grid solar inverter converts solar power for direct use in the public electricity grid without battery storage (No battery connection ports). This type of inverter operates only when connected to the grid and will enter standby mode if a grid failure is detected. (iii) Off-Grid Inverters: An off-grid inverter can function from the power of solar energy (PV Modules), battery storage, and AC/Grid/Genset connectivity through its input ports. Such units can use solar PV power, battery storage, and AC input power. Such units are especially suited where grid power is unstable or if there is no need to feed the surplus solar PV power to the grid (no net metering function). Automatically switches (by pass the household load) to AC or generator power when solar/battery storage is unavailable. As such the presence of AC input does not make it a hybrid inverter. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
