KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has revised the unit of measurement for the purpose of assessment of goods in terms of recommendations of the World Customs Organization (WCO).

No documents including Goods Declaration (GD) will be accepted after September 30, 2019 if the information regarding units of quantity declared is not in accordance with CGO-15.

“FBR has completely changed the valuation system at Customs stage. Now we are in line with international best practices for appraisement. A paradigm change and positive effect for industry and trade will arise,” Chairman FBR Syed Shabbar Zaidi noted.

FBR has advised all field formations to adopt standard units of quantity/measurement, which have been revisited in line with international and national trading practices to maintain uniformity; improve revenue collection; comparison and analysis of trade statistics and facilitate trade based on the harmonized system.

The standard units of quantity were previously notified by FBR on August 06, 2012. Due to adoption of HS-2017 version PCT codes have been added/deleted and certain new PCT codes have been created. Accordingly an updated Customs General Order (CGO) has been prepared to accommodate these changes.

Importers, clearing agents, shipping agents and all other concerned are directed to furnish invoices/documents and information in accordance with the new UoMs prescribed by CGO-15.

An official said the new officers and officials only relied on the past 90-day data and they didn’t consult the Valuation Rulings, Classification Rulings, Customs Act and other related information. The official said there would be extreme confusion and mistakes in assessment for the next few months.

Moreover, an exhaustive exercise would need to be undertaken by the Customs Valuation department to incorporate these changes.

Two columns have been created, one for statistical purpose and the other for assessment purpose to meet these objectives. CGO-15 can be downloaded here:

CGO 15