KARACHI: Pakistan Customs has made it mandatory for the importer to show a proof of bank approval to the foreign payment to get a consignment cleared, a senior official said on Monday.
“No GD (goods declaration) will be acceptable without submission of EIF (electronic import form),” said Fareed Iqbal Qureshi, Director Reforms and Automation of Pakistan Customs, speaking at a meeting with office bearers of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI).
Qureshi said the importer has to submit Form “I” at the time of GD clearance. The foreign payments obtained through banks will be crosschecked against those declared at clearance stage.
The bank approval to a foreign payment for the clearance of an import consignment was made mandatory under the new online goods declaration processing module.
Pakistan Customs has started a pilot run for implementation of Form “I”. Sources said it will be launched formally in next 15 days.
The “I” Form is using platform of WeBOC – the in-house clearance software of Pakistan.
Qureshi said WeBOC is facilitating the importers with paperless environment. “For facilitation of importers, Form I has been introduced,” he said.
He said earlier banks were not available to verify the foreign payment requested by importers. This caused chances of fraud and forgery. There was also lack of monitoring and control and some unscrupulous importers managed to obtain duplicate foreign payments against single consignment on photo copies of bill of ladings and GDs, he added.
The director said payment of import through informal channel was on the rise and it also resulted in mis-declaration of value to customs as importers didn’t declare mode of payment (letter of credit or contract).
“Manual issuance of payment process will be stopped with effect from a cutoff date to be notified by the State Bank,” he said.
Fazal Muhammad, an official at the State Bank of Pakistan, said the system will help the central bank to know the scheduled foreign payments and regulate the position of foreign exchange reserves.
Recently, the SBP Governor, at a meeting with the FPCCI officials, said the central bank identified serious discrepancies in payments and found that an importer had obtained foreign exchange 3 to 4 times for single consignment.
Senior Vice President Khalid Tawab of FPCCI said the development of paperless customs system has a significant importance for any country. Tawab said introduction of Form “I” will reduce the cost of doing business.