LAHORE: For the first time in the history of Pakistan, the Model Customs Collectorate Preventive has organized a poster competition for young and old artists. The main objective of the competition is to create awareness among the general public about role of the Customs Department in the protection of economic frontiers of the country.
This was informed by Collector of Customs Preventive Zulfiqar Younas while giving a detailed briefing to Customs Today here.
The collector said that it was also meant to encourage the young and budding artists to groom their artistic faculties by participating in a healthy competition. In order to make the competition more attractive and to get good quality posters, a cash prize of Rs 200,000 will be given to the best poster, the second prize of Rs 100,000 will be given to the second best poster and the third prize of Rs 50,000 will go to the third best poster. Special merit certificates will also be awarded to the selected poster makers.
Younas added that the theme of the competition is ‘Role of Customs in Development of Pakistan’. The Customs Department plays a significant role in trade facilitation, protection of society, effective border management and revenue collections.
The collector explained that the posters were expected to delve on one of these broad themes. On more detailed level, the Customs Department has a pivotal role in combating smuggling and effective enforcement of intellectual property rights regulations.
Similarly, ensuring quality and standard of import and export products is yet another important function performed by the Customs Department. It is also actively facilitating supply and value chain systems of trade and industry by providing swift and hassle free clearance of import and export cargoes, he said, adding that in order to facilitate selected critical industries, the Customs Department also allows on-site clearances.
“The Customs Department boasts one of the state of the art and most modern automated customs clearance system in the region, which is called Web Based One Customs (WeBOC). This online goods clearance system not only helps facilitate the trade but also helps FBR in collection of sizeable revenue in the shape of customs duties, sales tax, income tax, and other import levies. During the last financial year the Customs Department contributed 41 percent of the total revenue collected by the FBR, which was in excess of Rs 3,000 billion, the collector elaborated.
Students of fine arts and artists across the country have been invited to participate in the event. The poster size has been defined and the medium could be manual or digital. It is expected that the artists will highlight the important role of the Customs Department through their canvas and the Customs Department will get some of the very high quality posters which will be used by the FBR for subsequent tax awareness campaigns, he said.
A high powered jury, comprising of prominent personalities from the field of fine arts in Pakistan, including Madam Saleema Hashmi, Prof MH Jeffery (NCA) and Madam Rahat Naveed (Punjab University) will select the winners, who will be awarded prizes on International Customs Day to be held on January 26, 2017 in Lahore. The activity has been organized in collaboration with National College of Arts, the collector informed.
The Customs Collectorate Preventive has extended invitation to all the artists to take part in the event by sending their posters on the aforementioned theme up to December 31, 2016 to DC Customs Headquarters, MCC Preventive, Customs House, Nabha Road Lahore, Zulfiqar Younas informed.
