KARACHI: Custom House Karachi will remain open and resume normal operations on Monday October 16, 2017, in spite of the impression created by some vested interests that all work has been shut down in Custom House, Karachi, due to the appraising officials strike.
This was stated by Abdul Rashid Sheikh, Chief Collector of Customs, Appraisement (South) in a press release. He further stated that the business community should come forward and get clearance of their consignments as the work of the appraising officials has been assigned to the Assistant Collectors and Deputy Collectors in the light of powers conferred under Section 4 of the Customs Act, 1969.
He said that the state functions could not be held hostage by a handful of miscreant assessment officials who were attempting to cause loss to the economy by obstructing the clearance of imported goods from Karachi port and interrupting the extremely important function of revenue collection.
Sabotaging the operations of the Custom House will have a direct impact on the economic operations of businesses. Therefore, Sheikh and his team of officers have resolved that they will rise up to the occasion.
As functionaries of the state they believed it was the call of their duty to keep work running on the ports so that the economy does not suffer. Therefore, the officers had assumed the responsibilities of the appraising officers themselves. The officers even attended office on Sunday to dispose work pending due to the absence of appraising officers on Saturday. They were assisted by the examination and assessment staff of good repute who have disassociated themselves from the strike call.
The Appraisement South region in Karachi, is the largest field unit of Pakistan Customs and collects more than 75 percent of the revenue at the import stage which includes customs duties, sales tax, income tax and federal excise duty.
Under the leadership of the Chief Collector, many measures for introducing transparency, facilitation of trade and control of mal practices had been taken over a period of two years. The latest measures include daily monitoring report of processing of goods declarations to speed up the clearance process and curtail unnecessary objections and delays, restricted used of cell phones and enforcing accountability for delinquent actions.
This of course had bred resentment among some disparate elements who indulged in malpractices and extortion from trade. Whenever measures for challenging the status quo are taken, the entrenched interests join forces to overturn them. However, the senior officers of customs are working with zeal to counter them and to serve their country to the best of their abilities.
Deputy Collector Imran Rasool told Customnews.pk that MCC Appraisement West examined/assessed 180 containers on Saturday and Sunday. He said Collector Shahnaz Maqbool was at the Customs House on Sunday.
Additional Collector Sheraz Ahmed said MCC Appraisement East processed 140 containers on Saturday and Sunday. He said it was a matter of national interest and they were working all out to execute the responsibilities of Customs.
Moreover, there is no back-log at MCC Port Qasim as the strike call did not convince staff at MCC Port Qasim.
The assistant/deputy collectors undertaking assessment are referring the cases to additional collector to decide which documents to be called.