ISLAMABAD: Chief Customs International Asad Rizvi said Pakistan Customs has always been on the forefront for the activities supporting the establishment of effective enforcement structures. It has been part of many international and regional initiatives that were taken in order to counter the movement of illicit goods therefore it has been termed a ‘Role Model’ in many such initiatives.
The honorable Prime Minister of Pakistan has designated the Pakistan Customs as a leading agency for the establishment of National Single Window System (The single-window system is a trade facilitation idea for implementation of a single dealing with government authorities for obtaining the relevant clearance and permit (s) for moving cargoes across the national or economic borders).
This was stated by Asad Rizvi, Chief Customs International, while talking with Customs Today in an exclusive interview.
He said the Pakistan Customs is committed to modernization of customs procedures and bylaws in accordance with the international best practices and guidelines of the international customs organizations.
It has always been a great proponent that conducive atmosphere be provided for facilitating the legitimate trade for securing the global supply chain. He added that, being a signatory to a number of international conventions and regional agreements, it clearly demonstrates Pakistan’s commitment in this respect.
He said it has been almost six years when Pakistan Customs embarked upon a plan to get engaged in modernization and automation of the customs procedures in line with the international best practices. This approach has led to the development and deployment of the Web Based One Customs System (WeBOC), a completely automated customs clearance system throughout the country which currently caters for 90 percent of the import and export consignments of the country. The WeBOC is a paperless and automated computerized customs clearance system that has greatly enhanced the efficiency and effectiveness of the customs administration on the national level, thus facilitating trade through swift and seamless clearance of the cargo. In addition to this, it has also opened new vistas for cooperation and exchange of information and data by creating a database of all the cross border trade transactions. This online customs database and clearance system has been of tremendous utility in detection of customs frauds, evasion and other customs related offences.
The Chief Customs International told CT that Pakistan Customs is facilitating the bona fide imports and exports. He added that currently around 80% of export cargo is cleared without intrusive examination while nearly 30% of the import cargo is cleared under the Green Channel. It is expected that more refinement in the system will lead to allow further speedy clearance of cargo in the coming days.
In the recent past, Pakistan has been more supportive to all agreements that dealt with Electronic Data Exchange (EDE) on “Real Time Basis to reduce the time and thereby facilitating the trade. It also thwarts the threat of mis-declaration and under-invoicing that negatively impacts the economy by depriving the exchequer of its legitimate revenue share.
Pakistan was one of the pilot countries that implemented the WCO-UNODC’s Container Control Program (CCP) for identifying and intercepting the contraband items, either being mis-declared or concealed in container shipment from various parts of the World. Pakistan is regarded by the WCO as “Role Model” for developing economies through effective implementation of WCO’s program ‘Global Shield’, he concluded.
