KARACHI: The authorities concerned of Model Customs Collectorate MCC Appraisement-West have decided to take disciplinary action against the Afghan Transit Trade (ATT) staffers.
The sources informed Customs Today that the Collector MCC Appraisement-West Muhammad Saleem has forwarded a letter to the additional collector (ADC-I) in which he has asked the authorities concerned to check the status of the ATT legacy cases and take action against those Customs officials who are involved in ATT scam.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Sindh Region has already taken the ATT cases for investigation.
The sources informed that the Customs authorities in order to save Customs officials from defamation have decided to take disciplinary action itself against the Customs officials, so that the NAB could not take any legal action against those.
Around 27000 containers of Afghan Transit Trade found missing and the issue was highlighted few years ago in which Customs authorities fixed the responsibility of missing containers on clearing agents. Later, the clearing agents moved to Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) against the allegations of Customs authorities against them.
Subsequently, the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) directed Customs authorities to carry out transparent inquiry into the matter. During the investigation, it was found that around 22000 containers were sent through national bonded carriers including National Logistics Company and Pakistan Railways (PR).
On the other hand, the clearing agents were of the view that the “agents” according to the Public Order No.16 are not responsible for the any consignments after handing over to the Customs authorities in the premises of ports.
