LAHORE: Pakistan-India Customs Liaison Boarder Committee (CLBC) met on Thursday here in Lahore to discuss cross boarder customs related issues to make bilateral trade between the two countries more subtle and cost effective.
“This is an institutionalized mechanism that takes up the customs related issues at Wagha and Attari sides between two countries. We have various issues on procedural levels with regard import and export through railways between the two counties and passengers’ arrival and departures,” Indian Principal Commissioner Sunil Kumar Sahani told Customs Today here at the Customs House Lahore.
He added that with this point of view in mind the 18th CLBC has discussed improvement facilitations and simplification in customs procedures for the importers and exporters in order to make the bilateral trade between the two countries more subtle by bringing down the transactional costs of importers and exporters.
“This is a routinely meeting of CLBC that discuses bilateral trade issues and resolution of the concerns thereupon,” Central Region Chief Collector of Customs Rozi Khan Burki informed.
Revealing the discussion of CLBC, officials said that the Collector of Customs Lahore Preventive Mukarram Jah Ansari appreciated the measures undertaken by Indian Customs department to curtail export of gutkato Pakistan, while the Indian Customs authorities told the Pakistan Customs authorities that their vegetables were put under undue examination that was posing heavy losses to their exporters of vegetable.
They informed that issue related to a recent accident wherein an Indian labourer was killed when a truck, driven by a Pakistani driver who was transporting cement there, ran over the labourer unintentionally. The driver was arrested by the Indian police.
The Indian members vowed to take up the issue by providing the drive possible assistant, the sources disclosed.
Others including Wagha Additional Collector Sadia Munib, Deputy Commissioner Touqeer Ahmad Dar, Abass Ali Babar, Indian Customs Assistant Commissioner Aman Jeet Singh and Assistant Commissioner Tran Veer Gill were also present on the occasion.
Pakistan and India established the joint CLBC at each point of crossing borders at customs stations on February 15, 2012 during the visit of Indian Minister for Commerce, Industry and Textile, Anand Sharma to Pakistan.
The committee was decided to meet at least once in two months on rotational basis to discuss progress in the development of infrastructure on both sides of the border stations enabling expeditious clearance of goods, resolve other operational issues in order to facilitate trade and any other matter of joint interest.
Both countries were decided exchange information and intelligence. Each country will be bound to provide certified copies of customs documents and shipment documents. The required information will be transmitted via electronic means.
Any information or documents received under the agreement will be used only by the requesting customs administration solely for the purpose of assistance and under the terms set out in the agreement.
The information or documents received under the customs cooperation agreement will be eligible for use in administrative, quasi judicial or judicial proceedings and in inquiries by the respective country.
