KARACHI: Customs Valuation Director General Tanveer Ahmed has said that in bid to resolve conflict between Customs officials and importers on import price issues, the Customs Department is developing online database to check under-valuation at clearance stage.
Valuation Director General Tanveer Ahmed said this during a meeting with office-bearers of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI).
According to a court order, Pakistan Customs had been directed to revise customs valuation of imported items within 90 days to resolve the issue of import price of goods at customs clearance stage. “Revising 350 valuation rulings in 90 days with limited resources was not possible,” Ahmed said.
He said he had invited representatives of chambers and associations to provide a list of imported items and their import prices so the same should be posted on the WeBOC – the online customs clearance software of Pakistan Customs – to facilitate importers. “Not a single response was received by customs authorities,” he lamented.
He again asked the FPCCI being the national chamber and umbrella association to provide a detailed list of imported items and their import value along with evidence to prove the value.
The DG said the database would be operational along with valuation rulings on the WeBOC. The database would help the customs authorities to determine the values of imported items.
The customs authorities also agreed to link the values of imported goods with international prices, but the business community has been asked to provide valid links of websites or other sources where the foreign prices should be matched.
He said it was not difficult for the FPCCI to provide the details as only 10-15 percent imports were subjected to valuation rulings.
The DG said the import of oil constitutes 30 percent of total imports of the country, further 20-30 percent was related to government imports, another 15-20 percent to multinational companies and 15-20 percent imports were linked to leading websites such as London Metal Exchange (LME).
FPCCI Senior Vice President Khalid Tawab said that many valuation rulings were not revised for the last eight years. He further said commodity prices during the past two years had fallen significantly, but valuation rulings were not revised at par.
Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) Chief Executive SM Muneer welcomed the initiatives of Pakistan customs to stop under-invoicing and under-valuation.
