ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Customs is working on signing electronic data interchange accords with the customs departments of neighbouring countries to connect them through online system which will end the mis-declaration and tax evasion.
This was stated by Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) International Customs Chief Dr Muhammad Zubair in an interview with Customs Today. He said that an agreement of data interchange has been finalised with Afghanistan and with China while negotiations are underway with United Arab Emirates (UAE) to develop automated system.
This year, the World Customs Organisation (WCO) has floated a theme of digital customs through which customs’ systems will be automated and cross-border countries will be connected online to expedite the clearance process, he said.
Dr Zubair further said that all governmental institutions that have connection with imports and exports of the country will also be connected online to develop a better coordination among them.
Saying that the electronic data interchange will bring revolutionary development in the system, he said that Pakistan and Afghanistan were updating their systems that will be introduced at Torkham border soon, as negotiations in this regard have been completed. The agreement with China and UAE would be inked in current year, while with Iran and other countries accords will also be signed for data interchange system, he said.
He highlighted that the electronic data interchange systems will help to find out the irregularities in transit trade and to track the items those exported under transit trade but not crossed the borders, besides curbing the tax evasion.
Any Afghani importer, who imports items in wake of transit trade, will have to file bill of entry that could be checked by the customs officials of both sides through online system. This system will also update the Pakistan customs officials whether the containers bound to Afghanistan have crossed the border or not.
The importer who will not file the bill of entry against their shipments will be added in blacklist because it will indicate that the said containers have not crossed the border and the goods have been smuggled into Pakistan.
The online system will also eliminate the current difference in the weight and quantity of the items those imported from China as there will be data interchange system to weed out the mis-declaration and tax evasion, he said, adding that such measures will ultimately pose positive impact on revenue collection.
All over the world, technology is being adopted and Pakistan was bound to follow the same lines under international agreements. He said that US was supporting the Pakistan Customs as it is providing resources to make the operational matters of the department better.
