SOHAIL RAB KHAN
KARACHI: The division of PAX Collectorate into two other collectorates has left the importers and officials in Customs Department in a state of confusion. The PAX Collectorate has been divided into two collectorates i.e. East Wharf, MCC KAP-(E) and West Wharf, MCC KAP-(W).
Officials in Custom Department told Customs Today that they had not been informed by the authorities that in which collectorate they have to work for. One of the officials in Custom House told this scribe that the authorities had not yet determined his status for which collectorate he would work for.
With the introduction of two more collectorates, the imported goods which off-load at East Wharf go to Pakistan Shaheen Terminal, NLC, TPX and Timber Port while the goods which off-load at West Wharf go to Al-Hamd, Burma Oil Terminal (BMTO) and MTO.
In addition, importers are also facing tremendous problems in order to file their Goods’ Declaration (GDs) as the Weboc (Web-Base One Custom System), which connected to PAX collectorate, was also not working properly and their GDs are being rejected. The importers were of the view that they were facing difficulties in order to find their shipments by the creation of two more collectorates, as they even did not know the exact location of their products, whether it off-loaded at East Wharf or West Wharf.
When contacted, Chief Collector Appraisement Muhammad Yahya said the introduction of two more collectorates will definitely streamline the process of revenue collection and enhance the performance of MCCs.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has issued directives in order to divide the PAX collectorate into two collectorates and the instructions had been implemented from July 1, 2013.
