ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Wednesday announced important amendments to the Customs Rules, 2001, introducing changes to the Export Facilitation Scheme (EFS) aimed at improving operational flexibility for exporters.
The amendments were issued through SRO 211(I)/2026, dated February 3, 2026, which proposes updates to the existing regulatory framework governing duty-free imports under the EFS.
According to the notification, the FBR has inserted a new sub-rule (5) in Rule 878. Under this provision, if an EFS user has partially or fully utilized authorized input goods and exported the resulting output goods before the expiry of the utilization period specified under Rule 883, the system will allow further duty-free import of input goods. This allowance will be limited to the value of input goods already used in exported products and must not exceed the ceiling prescribed under Rule 878(1).
The amendment further clarifies that the description and Pakistan Customs Tariff (PCT) codes of both input and exported goods must remain unchanged, as approved under the Input-Output Ratios (IORs) determined by the IOCO or the Regulatory Collector. Such facility will not be available where IORs are unapproved or only provisionally approved.
Additionally, the FBR has added sub-rule (6) to Rule 879, allowing any order passed by a Regulatory Collector to be appealed before the relevant Chief Collector within 30 days. The appeal must also be decided within 30 days of filing, strengthening the dispute resolution mechanism under the EFS.
