ISLAMABAD: Recently retired director general of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Lutfullah Virk has said Pakistan could plug leakage of up to Rs 50 billion per year by overcoming smuggling through transshipment and safe shipment, which are major loopholes in Afghan Transit Trade.
This idea could be materialised by installing scanners, electronic weighbridges, trackers and video cameras linked to computer system at all ports, Virk said, besides revealing that some elements were interrupting the projects for their vested interests.
He said, “I personally tried hard for installation of the scanners and weighbridges but the project is not implemented due to obstacles created by the anti-elements,” adding, FBR could save national kitty but there was need to take measures.
Virk said that accountability was necessary to contain the black sheep, which were damaging national economy and reputation of the department. He said FBR has adopted a plan to appreciate the good performance but lacked punishment system that is key to make the miscreants accountable before the department.
Commenting over long-standing issue of shortage of staff, he said FBR has not inducted fresh employees into department since 1990 so the enforcement of customs laws to curb smuggling was not up to the mark. He lamented that average age of the employees in department was 57 years.
Talking about major ways of smuggling, Virk said that almost four to five methods were being used to smuggle the items into Pakistan, adding that smuggling through border crossing was the main technique as alcohol was smuggled into Pakistan from India, diesel from Iran, plastic granules and other items in guise of Afghan Transit Trade were smuggled from Afghanistan.
While evading duty/taxes on import of consignment, mis-declaration and midway pilferage of tansshipments and safe shipments were the other means used for smuggling, he said.
Revealing stunning facts, he informed that consignments of transhipment were not scanned at sea ports therefore the imported high-valued items have been replaced with low-valued items during transportation to avoid the taxes.
He added that facility of safe transportation was offered to industrialists and manufacturers in which imported raw material is used for the production of export oriented products and the customs did not receive duty tax on the export of such items.
But the importers deceitfully sell the consignment of raw material in local markets instead of using it for production, besides availing the exemption on exports.
Virk quoted an example that Customs Intelligence traced a factory, which imported copper for export purpose but it was found involved in misuse of exemption causing loss to national exchequer.
To make the system efficient, he said that every single container of transshipment and safe shipment should be passed through scanners and weighed, besides taking pictures of containers. He added that all data should be uploaded on interconnected systems so that dry ports could get the record of consignments for on-ground examination. This system will ultimately limit the tax evasion.
“I am surprised over the arguments, which are given against the installation of the international standard systems,” he said, during past days a consignment loaded with explosive material was cleared from Karachi port that showed loopholes in the system. However the consignment was captured by customs when it was moving towards its destination.
While concluding, Lutfullah Virk said that trust should be developed between informers and officers to curb the smuggling, adding that taking action on every tip was necessary.
