MULTAN: Collectorate of Customs Enforcement and Compliance (E&C) Collector Muneeza Majeed has said that Anti-smuggling Organization raided during night time at different private godowns which were dumped with smuggled goods.
Collector Customs Muneeza Majeed was speaking at the Multan Chamber of Commerce & Industry. The Collector Customs said that smuggling is causing huge loss to the national exchequer and the legal importers. Therefore, a good drive against smuggling was need of the hour. He said that anti-smuggling drive by the customs department would be beneficial for the legal importers and national economy. While answering a question, he said the department will extend full cooperation as far as de-stuffing is concerned.
He said those consignments would not be checked that are going out of Multan after due clearance. The Collector Customs said that the department will extend all possible cooperation to the business community in the larger interest of the country.
Speaking on the occasion, MCCI President Khawaja Salahuddin said the importers are facing various problems while transporting imported goods from the ports to their warehouses as they are frequently stopped by customs personnel on various check points.
He demanded that consignments once cleared by customs authorities should not be checked time and again while transporting to upcountry regions. The unnecessary delays in clearance of goods on part of customs department should be minimized to save businesses from incurring financial losses.
He said that the government should employ all the resources to control smuggling at the borders. The staff of frontier corps should be equipped with state-of-the-art equipment so that better vigilance can be ensured, he said.
He said that the MCCI members have complained that sometimes their shipments are assessed for valuation on retail price of imported commodities which is higher than the wholesale price.
The customs officials must understand that containers are booked in bulk and cut-rate prices are mentioned in import documents.
Moreover, he said, the customs officials for valuation apply different parameters while assessing the valuation of different import consignments containing similar items. Similarly, the consignment containing uniform packing should only be inspected. The current practice at Karachi port of examining or de-stuffing the consignments should be stopped.
He said that additional charges at Multan Dry port like Infrastructure Development levy are also causing problems for importers and should be withdrawn. Else, it will induce the importers to get their valuation done at Karachi port. He said that the customs officials deputed at airports should act as facilitators rather than causing unnecessary problems for the importers and exporters.
