ISLAMABAD: Chief Collector North Dr. Asif Mehmood Jah has said that the Customs Region (North) performed exceptionally well regarding enforcement and anti-smuggling activities despite severe constraints of logistics and personnel to cover the vast jurisdiction comprising almost three provinces.
Talking with Customs Today during an exclusive interview, Chief Collector North Asif Mehmood Jah has said that a comprehensive strategy has been devised by all the Collectorates. All offices are given specific targets which are fully monitored by senior level officers on regular basis, adding that owing to this special focus, the flow of smuggled goods through major roads has been effectively frustrated.
He added that under directives from the FBR Hqs., special joint survey of major retail outlets have been launched in association with RTOs of Peshawar, Islamabad and Rawalpindi with effect from 1st September, 2019 to assess the quantum of smuggled goods available in markets. To this effect, joint teams of Peshawar Customs conducted survey of 17 major retail outlets covering electronic shops, cloth stores and other consumer durable goods.
Answering a query he said that on the enforcement side, the Customs Region (North) also performed exceptionally well despite severe constraints of logistics and personnel to cover the vast jurisdiction comprising almost three provinces. During the period July – Sep 2019, the North Region seized huge quantity of smuggled and non-duty paid goods including vehicles, narcotics, currency and gold, etc. to the tune of millions of rupees. Some of the major cases included: raid on a godown in a congested area of Faqir Abad Peshawar to seize f/o cloth & cigarette (valuing Rs 33.78 million), interception of a vehicle containing f/o cloth & cigarette (valuing Rs 29.56 million) at Colonel Sher Khan Interchange on Motorway, seizure of f/o gold slabs (valuing Rs 11 million) at departure hall Torkham Customs Station and seizure of a parcel containing 800 grams of brown heroin powder (valuing Rs 8.5 million) at IMO Rawalpindi.
He said that the North Customs Region (North) during 1st Quarter collected Rs 5,231 million customs duty as compared to Rs 3,584 million collected during 1st Quarter of FY 2018-19 (46% higher). Similarly, an amount of Rs 5,769 million was collected under the head of Sales Tax as compared to Rs 3,955 million collected during 1st Quarter of FY 2018-19 (46% higher). The North Region collected Rs 14,179 million during July – September 2019 as compared to Rs 10,067 million during the corresponding period of last year, recording an increase of Rs 4,112 million (41%).
The Customs Region (North) comprised four Collectorates including Model Customs Collectorates of Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and MCC Appraisement and Preventive Peshawar covering the whole of KPK as well as the merged districts of erstwhile FATA, Chief Collector added.
He said that all the four Collectorates of Customs Region (North) contributed significantly in successfully attaining their respective revenue targets. Dr. Asif Mahmood Jah (Sitara-e-Imtiaz) attributed this achievement to the untiring efforts and hard work of the officers and staff of the Region under the dynamic leadership of Chairman FBR Shabbar Zaidi and Member Customs (Operations) Dr. Jawwad Owais Agha who kept a strong vigilance during the year and kept issuing regular instructions for maximizing revenue efforts through goods clearance, auctions, recovery of arrears and encashment of bank guarantees etc.
He also expressed confidence that the officers and staff will maintain this efficiency and put in their best possible efforts to continue to strive for such success in future as well. The Chief Collector Customs (North) further emphasized the officers and staff to ensure strict discipline, adopt austerity measures, honesty and unflinching enforcement of laws for the economic uplift of the country during the ongoing financial crisis faced by the country. Moreover, directions have also been issued to all Collectorates for weeding out corrupt and delinquent elements.
