Crackdown on illegal trade, use of smuggled goods on the cards

ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to initiate a nationwide crackdown against the illegal trade and use of smuggled items in the country.

The decision was taken in a high echelon meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan that was convened to prevent smuggling in the country. Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Commander Southern Command (SC) and Corps Commander Quetta Lieutenant General Asim Saleem Bajwa, DG ISI Lieutenant General Faiz Hamid, FBR Chairman Syed Shabbar Zaidi, Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Interior Minister Brigadier Ejaz Ahmad Shah, Adviser to the PM on

Trade Abdul Razzak Dawood, SAPM Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, Secretary Interior Major Azam Sulaiman, Secretary Commerce Ahmad Nawaz Sukhaira, chief secretaries of the provinces including Chief Secretary Punjab Yousaf Naseem Khokhar and other high officials were present in the meeting.

Prime Minister Imran said that menace of smuggling caused heavy loss to the country’s economy, adding that “effective control on smuggling vital for boosting local industry in the country”. The prime minister said that development of agriculture and other sectors necessary to steer out the country from the swamp of loan.

He said that former rulers had been sheltering money laundering and added that the current government had taken adequate measure to restore industry and the country’s economy. The meeting decided to constitute a committee headed by the interior minister to curb smuggling on Pak-Iran border and systematise Pak-Afghan transit trade.

The committee comprised officials of commerce division, FBR, finance division and representatives of the provinces. The committee was given a task to review the prevailing laws and present its suggestions within a month.