Changes sought to new Customs assessment system

PESHAWAR: Frontier Customs Agents Association (FCAA) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has demanded changes to the newly introduced `Faceless Customs Assessment’, to make it convenient and practical for the business community dealing in import and export through upcountry dry ports such as Peshawar.

In a press statement issued here on Sunday, association’s president Zia-ul-Haq Sarhadi who also holds the offices of Senior Vice President Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry and is Executive Committee Member of Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), said that centralization of Goods Declarations (GDs) process at the Karachi port is causing difficulties for business community of other cities due to delay in processing and clearance.

“The government must immediately engage with the business community to craft flexible and practical policies”, Zia Sarhadi emphasized. He also welcomed a recent decision by the Peshawar High Court (PHC) directing the Federal Board of Revenue to make necessary amendments to the system and bring it in conformity with the scheme governing the assessment and clearance of goods. The court issued a directive for restricting the application of Faceless Custom Assessment to the clearance of goods reached at Azakhel Dryport.

Zia Sarhadi explained that under the new system introduced by the Customs Department, all GDs are routed to the Central Assessment Unit (CAU) in Karachi, even if they are filed at local dry ports.

“This centralization has resulted in delays in clearance, as local agents cannot directly communicate with the assessing officers in Karachi in case queries or objections are raised,” he added.

Zia Sarhadi said delays have become the norm under this system. Clearance that once took days now often takes weeks as a result, shipments remain stuck at ports, attracting heavy demurrage charges, which are borne by the importer.

These demurrage fees are paid to foreign shipping lines, leading to a drain on Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves. Zia Sarhadi suggested that the Faceless Assessment System should be station-wise instead of Karachi only, Zia suggested.He said, regardless of how noble the intentions behind the new system may be, if its outcomes don’t align with ground realities, it becomes more of a hurdle than a reform.