Minister says smuggling to be eliminated

LAHORE : Minister of State for Revenue Hammad Azhar on Saturday said that smuggling is a menace for businesses and vowed to make Pakistan a smuggling-free country in near future.

The minister expressed these views in a ceremony held at Wahga Border Customs Office in connection with the International Customs Day.

The minister said that smuggling was a disease for businesses and, as being a part of business family, he had witnessed how smuggled good destroyed different businesses and created unemployment for thousands of people. He said that mobile smuggling was causing a loss of Rs.50 billion to national kitty and effective measured were required to curb the mobile smuggling.

Fencing of Pak-Iran and Pak-Afghan borders by the Pakistan military and upgrade of the anti-smuggling force will eliminate smuggling, he added.

He said that he and his team would strive to make Pakistan a smuggling free country in near future. He said that an integrated system based on reformed customs intelligence was the need of the hour. He said the prevailing system of customs was satisfactory but it could function more properly after some upgrades. He said that he had learnt that at Afghan border, a single vehicle of customs patrolled in 100 mile radius. “I have shared this situation with Prime Minister of Pakistan who has assured me of increasing customs staff on borders, and the recruitments to the force will be made on merit,” the minister said.

He said that Customs Department was key to implementation of ease of doing business agenda. The government has focused establishment of one national window for local and international business people, he said.

To a query relating to the next visit of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to Pakistan, the minister hoped that the FATF would remove Pakistan from gray list as the government and the departments concerned were working hard to fulfil the FATF requirements.

Chief Collector Customs (Central) Zeba Hai Azhar said that Customs revenues had increased more than 34 percent as compared to previous fiscal year. She appreciated Customs staff of the central region for their performance and later distributed certificates among business community and Custom officials.

World Customs Organization (WCO) celebrates January 26 as International Customs Day in order to emphasise Customs’ pivotal role in securing borders for trade facilitation.

The theme of 2019 International Customs Day is “Swift and Smooth Cross-order Movement of Goods, People and Means of Transport” with the slogan “Smart borders for seamless trade, travel and transport.

At the event more than 6,000 bottles of illegally smuggled liquor and other contraband were destroyed in the presence of Customs officials and journalists.

Seminar on diabetes: Pakistan Society of Chemical Pathologists on Saturday organised a seminar on “Diabetes and its diagnosis”.

The seminar aimed at improving diagnosis of diabetes and raising general awareness about the disease so that steps could be taken in order to improve the quality of life of diabetic patients.

A group of renowned pathologists and health experts including; Dr Sajida Shaheen and Prof Dilawar Khan delivered lectures on diagnosis of diabetes, its new procedure and role of lab for assessment of renal complications in diabetes.