Demurrage charges waiver urged

KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Tuesday asked port authorities to waive demurrage and detention charges in the wake of lockdown to control coronavirus.

Trade bodies and business associations had made representations for intervention to waive demurrage and detention charges for reasonable time, it said. In a letter sent to the Karachi Port Trust, Port Qasim Authority and container terminal operators, the FBR said Pakistan is currently facing a great challenge to address the issue of spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus). As a result of lockdown and restriction on the movement of people / vehicles, the time duration for lifting the cargo from the ports is exceeding the free time as allowed to the importers under normal course of business, it added.

“Given the current situation and to facilitate trade, it is requested that demurrage and detention charges may not be charged from the importers for a period of 15 days, in addition to the free time already allowed by the port authorities,” the FBR said.