KARACHI: Resolution of problems faced by terminal operators at the Karachi ports and more bank branches to accommodate customs agents seems to be top priorities of Khurram Ijaz, the newly elected general secretary of Karachi Customs Agents Association (KCAA).
Khurram, who took over the charge of his office along with his 20-member team at a hotel on Tuesday, said talking to the terminal operators was his top priority. There were long delays stretching the examination of the consignments which delayed delivery, he said. This has also been making it impossible for exporters to honour their delivery commitments, he said, adding, “We will talk to the terminal operators to help improve the situation. We will establish a task force for liaison with the terminal operators to ensure that it will no more take 4-5 days to get a goods declaration and as many as five days to get a container opened.”
Khurram said further despite many policy changes the basic problems of the customs agents remained more or less unchanged.
“We will talk to customs authorities regarding only one bank, the National Bank of Pakistan, and that too with just one branch at the Customs House designated to cater to the needs of customs agents, the vital link between the government and the importers,” he said.
Speaking earlier, newly inducted KCAA President Qamar Alam said, “We will form a committee that will be available 24 hours a day 365 days a year to offer help and assistance to our members whenever they need us.”
Outgoing General Secretary Faisal Mushtaq said, “The accounts of the association have been improved due in part to issuance of new petrol cards to better monitor the fuel expenses. We also managed to make a number of changes in the by-laws and do the needful so that our members could now open the WeBOC Customs automation system on Safari and other programmes instead of just windows as previously.”
He also said that he took up the bank issue, adding that the number of counters at the bank would be increased after Eid. He asked the newly-elected managing committee to keep pursuing the matter.
Outgoing President Iftikhar Ahmed Sheikh talked about his decision to bring an end to cash deposits of the association and transferring the funds to current account.
The speeches echoed the dissatisfaction of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI).
Last week, FPCCI President Zakaria Usman condemned the negligent attitude of the port authorities and said that the international norms were never followed though the exporters paid the port authorities in dollars for de- and re-stuffing of goods removed from the containers for inspection.
He had said, “The international community has set high standards and expects the same from Pakistani exporters and is also ready to pay price to our exporters but it expects that goods are packed properly. Due to mishandling of the export consignments by the port operators our exports turn into substandard packaging which make export cargoes unacceptable to the importers.”
The newly inducted office-bearers are: Qamar Alam, president; Khurram Ijaz, general secretary; Naseem Askar, senior vice president; Mirza Ather Baig, vice president; Kaisaf Khan Marwat, assistant vice president; Mohammad Aamir, joint secretary; Gohar Mehboob, information secretary and Tariq Jawed, information secretary.
The newly elected members of the managing committee are: Aminur Rasheed, Fida Hussain, Islah Ali Ansari, Zeeshan Iqbal, Khalid Aman, Moeez Tahir Sheikh, Mohammad Aslam, Mohammad Rasheed, Mohammad Sajid, Sajjad Haider, Waqas Anjum and Sheraz Shoukat. All members were elected unopposed.
