QUETTA: Customs Collectorate Collector Ashraf Ali said that World Customs Organization (WCO) has chosen the theme of SMART Borders for Seamless Trade Travel and Transport for International Customs Day 2019 with the objective of achieving swift and smooth cross border movement of goods, people and means of transport.
He said Pakistan Customs like any other World Customs Organization is playing an important role in facilitating cross border trade and travel with the assistance of other government organizations.
Simplification of procedures, standardization of processes and securing the supply chain are some of the tools being employed for the purpose, needless to mention that Pakistan Customs can play a pivotal role in achieving seamless movement of goods and people by virtue of its reliance on information technology, risk management system and providing secure measurable facilitation to trade, he added.
He said, Pakistan has taken many measures to work towards achieving SMART borders despite considerable emphasis by higher authorities. The Customs could not launch the Web-Based One-Customs (WeBOC) System at the Chaman border crossing since its inception in 2011 due to issues of reliable connectivity and hostile attitude of the local stakeholders, attempts at connecting the Customs House through an optic fiber link were repeatedly sabotaged.
Coverage of import and export cargo have reached 80% of the total cargo by the end of 2018, similarly, an optic fiber link was installed at Customs House, Taftan which has enhanced coverage of WeBOC System to more than 70%. Installation of real-time e-gates at all the Custom Houses has enabled Customs to record the gate-in and gate-out events in real time, he added.
