PESHAWAR: Trade with China through the Khunjerab Pass, a key part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), has been halted for more than a month over objections to the existing clearance system of WeBOC.
According to customs officials deputed at Sust Dry Port, the clearance of goods through WebOC service has been prime need of the time for which the importers need to cooperate with the customs department for full implementation of WeBOC.
The sources informed that the collection of revenue has been rising after initiation of business after China Pakistan Economic Corridor for which modern tools were being used to enhance the yield of trade through this route and enlarge the revenue collection for customs exchequer.
Traders have reportedly refused to clear their consignments through newly-introduced Web-Based One Customs (WeBOC) system at Sust Dry Port on Tuesday.
Presently, about 36 trucks carrying goods to and from China are stranded at the Sust Dry Port due to this ongoing dispute but still no steps are taken to defuse the situation.
The importers have expressed deep concerns over the implementation of WeBOC services over the export and import of goods which caused loss of millions to the customs exchequer. The importers said that due to unavailability of facilities at Sust Dry Port, clearance of goods can’t be carried out through WeBOC service for which the FBR needs to take productive measures.
The importers criticized the customs staff posted at SUST Dry Port for not cooperating with importers over the issues of clearance of goods into to Pakistan and to China from Pakistan for last three months.
The importers said that basic duty of the government is to provide basic facilities needed for the completion of clearance procedure for import and export of vehicles loaded with genuine goods.
The sources in Customs House Peshawar when asked about the difficulties being faced for implementing WeBOC at the border, FBR responded that at initial stages, importers at Torkham also objected the service for which negotiation was carried out to bring ease in the procedure of clearance of goods.
