KARACHI: National Assembly Finance Committee visited Customs House on Wednesdays and held meetings with senior officers.
Member Customs Nasir Masroor was also present on the occasion.
The Committee reviewed the performance of the Customs and took note of the issues and problems facing Customs. The Committee of National Assembly would furnish recommendations to the government.
The NA Committee is headed by Qaiser Sheikh and comprises of Mian Manan, Rasheed Godil, Nasir Khan Khattak, Saeed Manais.
NA Committee had meeting which was attended by Chief Collectors Abdul Rasheed Shaikh, Zahid Khokhar and Collectors Tariq Huda, Agha Jawwad, Majid Yousafzai, Mukarram Jah, Saifuddin Junejo, Samina Tasleem Zohra, Director General Sameera Nazir, Javed Ghani and Directors Wajid Ali, Wasif Memon and other officers.
Abdul Rasheed Shaikh gave briefing about the affairs of computerized Customs clearance system WeBOC and revenue collection at import stage which has surged significantly.
He also talked about the shortage of officials and informed that there had been no appointment for the last around 20 years. Abdul Rasheed Shaikh apprised the NA Committee that IT professionals were urgently needed to improve the system and monitoring. he added that there was no adequate residing arrangements for commissioned officers and the issue should be taken care of.
Abdul Rasheed Shaikh that if the targets set by FBR are surpassed, some portion of the excess money should be earmarked for the reputed and competent officers as incentives.
Zahid Khokhar apprised the team about the anti-smuggling campaign and added that due to concentrated efforts the smuggling had been limited to a minimum extent. He said that para military forces were onboard in the operation because Customs was short of young blood.
He proposed to form a border management form on Customs level.
The NA Committee appreciated the role of Customs and asked the Chief Collectors to forward their recommendations and proposals for due proceedings.