PESHAWAR: Corrupt Principal Appraiser Dost Mohammad has become symbol of corruption in customs department through continuous violation of green channel and TP facility.
These vies were expressed by Advocate Zeenat Mian Kakakhel while talking to Customs Today at Peshawar.
The advocate further said that nowadays Dost Mohammad has become symbol of corruption. Customs department is notorious for corruption due to officials like Dost Mohammad. Stories of customs scandals are also common in media.
Since customs performs many crucial functions as the gatekeeper of the nation, corruption in its operations is a serious matter. Customs is the chief enforcer of trade policy, responsible for administering differential tariffs, quantitative restrictions, rules of origin, anti-dumping measures, and trade embargoes, she added.
She said it has an important role in export promotion through the administration of duty drawback schemes and other incentives. Customs is one of the core agencies responsible for stopping the entry into the country of socially harmful goods, such as drugs, arms, ammunition and dangerous chemicals.
She said if the contraband goods are cleared through legal channel than that becomes more dangerous for the national kitty and customs exchequer have to bear heavy losses. Customs implements national obligations under international trade treaties, such as those for trade in ivory and protection of endangered species. Last, but not the least, customs is one of the major tax collection agencies of the federal government.
Not only customs performs these onerous duties effectively, it must do so with minimal interruption in trade flows as in open economies, volume and speed of international trade is critical, she added.
The advocate further said that the consequences of corruption in customs can be grievous. Infringement of trade policy can expose domestic industries to unfair competition. Smuggling of prohibited goods can expose society to serious public health, law and order risks.
Advocate Zeenat added that transit of drugs through a country can generate strong pressure from the destination countries. Breach of international treaty obligations can trigger retaliatory measures by other countries. Acceptance of mis-classification or under-valuation of imports, perfunctory investigation of customs fraud and improper disposal of confiscated goods can lead to serious revenue loss.
Delays in processing of imports and exports can cause significant economic losses, increase the cost of doing business, affect competitiveness of a country’s firms and scare away foreign investment, Advocate Zeenat added.
