KARACHI: Collector Adjudication Farrukh Sajjad has imposed a penalty of Rs1.0 million on M/s HB Enterprises along with 20 percent redemption fine and also ordered recovery of Rs8.526 million, which the importer had evaded through mis-declaring the HS code of the imported goods.
According to details, I&I Karachi had received information that M/s HB Enterprises was involved in import and clearance of bag accessories (trolley puller) and castor wheels by mis-declaring the HS Code of the goods to claim undue benefit of Pak-China FTA causing loss to national exchequer.
After due deliberations and hearing all sides, Customs Adjudication established the importer sought clearance of the imported goods by mis-declaring classification of the goods in the GD.
Once the case of mis-declaration is established then SRO 499(I)/2009 is invariably attracted. It is also pertinent to mention that WeBOC system is based on self-assessment in which importer first declares description, classification, quantity, weight, origin, value and applicable SRO and calculates/assess duty and taxes, and then Customs counter checks the declaration. Hence, the onus of correct declaration and assessment is on the importer.
However, in clear violation of the trust reposed in importer, M/s HB Enterprises deliberately mis-declared the imported goods by declaring irrelevant PCTs in order to evade payment of leviable duty and taxes so as to deprive government exchequer of its legitimate revenue.
Collector Adjudication also noted there could be an element of collusion in processing of the GDs, as the officers deputed to check these GDs failed in their duty to check the wrong classification declared by the importer. This matter needs to be inquired by the Collectorate so that the responsible officers/officials may be punished in the case, if their connivance is established.