RAWALPINDI: An awareness and interactive session on Electronic Import Form (EIF) was organized by the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) here on Friday. Director exchange policy department Fazal Mehmood and his team led the meeting from State Bank of Pakistan. President RCCI Raja Amer Iqbal, Senior Vice President Rashid Waien, Vice President Asim Malik, members of the executive committee, representatives from customs, commercial banks and a large number of exporters and importers attended the session.
Addressing the session Fazal Mahmood said that State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has directed that all imports into Pakistan should be made compulsorily through Electronic Import Form (EIF) to curb illegal and duplicate payments of imports by unscrupulous elements. SBP had a great respect for importers and exporters being the key stakeholder in bringing foreign exchange to Pakistan. He said dynamics of economy has now been changed and SBP prime objective was to document the real time data of imports & exports through automation of import form.
Raja Amer Iqbal, President RCCI in his welcome address said that chamber prior responsibility was to facilitate members and traders to address the key issues related to the EIF. He appreciated SBP role for bringing awareness through interactive sessions and working towards the documentation of the economy. Under national action plan (NAP) it was necessary to abide by the international laws related to the Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti Money laundering (AML), he added.
However, president RCCI shows concerns on less number of commercial branches in Rawalpindi dealing with imports of goods and suggested to set up a helping desk in respected branches. The issue of third party payment, partial payment, minimum cash holding and rate of letter of credit (LC), must be rationalized and settled through the relevant stakeholders amicably, he further added. He said EIF will help to curb multiple payments against single consignment, fake and forge form and will improve forecasting /assessment of imports data.
