tuesday october 1, 2013 - monday october 7, 2013 issue

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Vol 1 Issue No. 33 Regd. No, MC-1381 Weekly Karachi, Tue Oct 01 - Mon Oct 07, 2013 Price Rs. 50.00 PAKISTAN’S FIRST INDEPTH NEWSPAPER ON CUSTOMS Find us on Daily on www.customstoday.com Economic growth and increasing foreign trade are two cornerstones of the present government says Commerce Minister Khurram Dastagir | SEE PAGE 10 | In order to provide speedy justice to people, Ombudsman’s institution needs to be strengthened, says FTO Abdul Rauf Chaudhry | SEE PAGE 9 | Workshop on Ombudsmanship FBR is working to improve modules of WeBOC which would be replicated at all dry ports and sea ports, says Member Customs Nisar Khan | SEE PAGE 3 | The measure would have no revenue impact and it was simply removal of a tax anomaly to facilitate the business community, says FBR Chairman Tariq Bajwa | SEE PAGE 2 | Dastagir calls Expo Pakistan Reducing withholding rates Removing WeBOC anomalies I n keeping with the vision of Prime Min- ister Nawaz Sharif to open up new trade routes to speed up the pace of progress and prosperity in the region, Pakistan Cus- toms and the Directorate of Transit Trade are working together planning the con- struction of transit trade corridors leading to Kashgar, Tehran, Istanbul and other Central Asian countries. This was stated by Director General (DG) Transit Trade Khawar Farid Maneka during an exclusive interview with Customs Today at the Directorate of the Transit Trade Ofice in Customs House, Karachi. “Our topmost priority is to ensure safe cross-border supply of goods and reconcil- iation of the containers through a transpar- ent, swift and secure process. Pakistan Cus- toms has achieved 99.8 percent success rate in ensuring cross- border movement of con- tainers since May, 2013”, Maneka added. But our aim is to ensure 100 percent scanning of all containers, including NATO, ISAF, mili- tary and others, at every check-post, he said “Pakistan Customs and Directorate of Tran- sit Trade are determined to create facilities in order to attract other countries to use Pakistan corridors for getting access to Cen- tral Asia”, Maneka added. Responding to a query, the DG said that Directorate of Transit Trade has initiated the process of proper tracking and moni- toring of the containers on all transit trade routes. He disclosed that a Central Control Room (CCR) has been set up at Customs House, Karachi to monitor the movement of containers. Regional Control Rooms have also been established for the same purpose. Maneka further informed that Direc- torate of Transit Trade is going to propose the penal clause for improvement of track- ing system installed in the containers. Replying to a question, Maneka said that Mobile Enforcement Units (MEUs) have been set up at all regional Collectorates from Karachi to Torkhum. “These MEUs will react promptly in case of any theft attempt and looting of containers”, he asserted. Elaborating, the DG Transit Trade said that the enforcement units will prove effec- tive only if oficials in the Central Control Room work eficiently and keep an eye on every container till their crossing into Afghanistan. He further said the Central Control Room and regional Mobile Enforce- ment Units are interlinked in order to im- prove the checking of containers. “The oficials concerned in Model Cus- toms Collectorate (MCC) Preventive should improve their performance, as it is essential for better surveillance of containers”, Maneka maintained. Referring to the missing containers report presented by former Member Customs Ramzan Bhatti, the DG Transit Trade said that the report pre- sented before the Chief Jus- tice of Pakistan was ‘satis- factory’ and covered all aspects of the issue. Maneka clariied that the Afghan Tran- sit Trade (ATT) scam surfaced be- for e his appoint- ment as DG Transit Trade. KARACHI SOHAIL RAB KHAN www.customstoday.com Pakistan Customs and Directorate of Transit Trade are determined to create facilities in order to attract other countries to use Pakistan corridors for getting access to Central Asia

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We are Customs Today, an authentic voice of Customs community Customs officers, importers and exporters, customs clearing agents, shipping agents, forwarding agents, etc. Similarly, our website www.customstoday.com is Pakistan’s No. 1 English news website updated 24/7 with latest and breaking news on Customs affairs. It is the first choice of news source for on-line audience to keep themselves up-to-date about Customs related happenings.

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Page 1: Tuesday october 1, 2013 - Monday october 7, 2013 issue

Vol 1 issue no. 33 regd. no, mC-1381Weekly karachi, Tue oct 01 - mon oct 07, 2013 Pricers. 50.00

PAkisTAn’s firsT inDEPTh nEWsPAPEr on CusToms

Find us on Daily on www.customstoday.com

Economic growth and increasingforeign trade are twocornerstones of the presentgovernment says commerceMinister Khurram Dastagir| sEE PAgE 10 |

in order to provide speedy justiceto people, Ombudsman’sinstitution needs to bestrengthened, says FTO abdulrauf chaudhry| sEE PAgE 9 |

Workshop on ombudsmanship

FBr is working to improvemodules of WeBOc which wouldbe replicated at all dry ports andsea ports, says Member customsNisar Khan| sEE PAgE 3 |

The measure would have norevenue impact and it was simplyremoval of a tax anomaly tofacilitate the business community,says FBr chairman Tariq Bajwa| sEE PAgE 2 |

Dastagir calls Expo Pakistan

reducing withholding rates

removing WeboC anomalies

Inkeepingwith thevisionofPrimeMin-isterNawazSharif toopenupnewtraderoutes to speedup thepaceof progressand prosperity in the region, Pakistan Cus-toms and the Directorate of Transit Tradeare working together planning the con-structionof transit tradecorridors leading toKashgar, Tehran, Istanbul and other CentralAsian countries.Thiswas statedbyDirectorGeneral (DG)Transit Trade Khawar Farid Maneka duringan exclusive interview with Customs Todayat theDirectorateof theTransit TradeOfNicein Customs House, Karachi.“Our topmost priority is to ensure safecross-border supply of goods and reconcil-iation of the containers through a transpar-ent, swift and secure process. Pakistan Cus-tomshasachieved99.8percent success rateinensuring cross- bordermovementof con-tainers sinceMay, 2013”,Manekaadded.Butouraim is toensure100percent scanningofall containers, including NATO, ISAF, mili-tary andothers, at every check-post, he said“Pakistan Customs and Directorate of Tran-sit Trade are determined to create facilitiesin order to attract other countries to usePakistan corridors for gettingaccess toCen-tral Asia”, Maneka added.Responding to a query, the DG said thatDirectorate of Transit Trade has initiatedthe process of proper tracking and moni-toring of the containers on all transit traderoutes. He disclosed that a Central ControlRoom (CCR) has been set up at CustomsHouse, Karachi to monitor the movementof containers. Regional ControlRoomshavealsobeenestablished for the samepurpose.Maneka further informed that Direc-torate of Transit Trade is going to proposethe penal clause for improvement of track-ing system installed in the containers.Replying to a question, Maneka said thatMobile Enforcement Units (MEUs) havebeensetupat all regionalCollectorates from

Karachi toTorkhum. “TheseMEUswill reactpromptly in case of any theft attempt andlooting of containers”, he asserted.Elaborating, the DG Transit Trade saidthat the enforcement units will prove effec-tive only if ofNicials in the Central ControlRoom work efNiciently and keep an eye onevery container till their crossing intoAfghanistan. He further said the CentralControlRoomandregionalMobileEnforce-ment Units are interlinked in order to im-prove the checking of containers.“The ofNicials concerned in Model Cus-toms Collectorate (MCC) Preventive shouldimprove their performance, as it is essentialfor better surveillance of containers”,Maneka maintained. Referring to themissing containers reportpresentedby former Member CustomsRamzan Bhatti, the DG TransitTradesaid that the reportpre-sented before the Chief Jus-tice of Pakistan was ‘satis-factory’ and covered allaspects of the issue.Maneka clariNiedthat the Afghan Tran-sit Trade (ATT)scam surfaced be-forehisappoint-ment as DGTransitTrade.

KarachisohAil rAb khAnwww.customstoday.com

Pakistan Customs and Directorate of TransitTrade are determined to create facilities in orderto attract other countries to use Pakistancorridors for getting access to Central Asia

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Dubai Customs foils smuggling of 1,960 white weaponsDUBAI:Dubai Customs seized 1,960whiteweapons in Jebel Ali &TECOMCustomsCentre during anattemptto smuggle two shipments of these weapons into the UAE. The inspectors of Jebel Ali Customs suspected thetwo shipments,whichwerediscovered to contain 1520knives, 30 swords, 110pistol holders, 200 rangeboxes,and 100 gun cleaner tools. Dubai Customs continues its efforts to thwart any attempt to smuggle whiteweapons through regular seizures, as part of its active contribution to themeasures taken by the state.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar,chairing a high-level meetingtoreviewvariousconcernsex-pressed by the business communityregarding procedural and tax anom-alies, announced a reduction in ratesof sales tax withholding regime onpurchases fromunregisteredpersonsand for wholesalers and dealers.During the meeting which was at-tended by Secretary Finance DrWaqarMasood, FederalBoardofRev-enue (FBR) Chairman Tariq Bajwaand senior ofNicials of Ministry of Fi-nance, various issues and proposalsrelating to income tax and sales taxcame under discussion.TariqBajwasaid that thepolicyde-cisions were taken to facilitate thebusiness community with a Ninancialimpact of less than 0.1 per cent of the

Rs2.475 trillion revenue target set forthe current Niscal year. He said the ac-curate impact of revenue losswasyetto be Nirmed up.An FBR ofNicial said the exchequerwould suffer a loss of about Rs2 bil-lion to 2.5 billion a year, but the movewas clearly a setback to the govern-ment’s documentation drive.While, FBRchairmansaid thatma-jor initiative to document big players-distributorsandwholesalers -wouldremain protected, though retailers ina couple of instances now stood ex-empted from documentation.About the exact cost of these in-centives in terms of revenue efforts,FBRChairmanTariqBajwasaid therewould be a marginal cost involved,but it was not signiNicant. However,he did not disclose any Nigure of thecost involved for this tax incentivepackage given by the government tobusiness tycoons.The FBR chairman said the meas-ure would have “some revenue im-pact, exact amountofwhichwouldbeworked out”. He said given the cas-

cading nature of revenue collection,taxpayers were allowed refund ad-justments but since the major objec-tive was documentation and not rev-enue collection, it was creatingdifNiculties for the supply chain be-cause of different prices of goods atretail stage, hence 1pc withholdingsales tax had been allowed for an im-proved compliance. The governmenthas also exempted items chargeableto sales tax on retail stage from salestax withholding regime. Bajwa saidthe measure would have no revenueimpact and itwas simply removal of atax anomaly to facilitate the businesscommunity.The government waived the con-ditionofprovidingCNIC,NTNandad-dresses of retailers under section236H tobeprovided in thewithhold-ing statement under section 165 ofthe Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.TariqBajwasaid thewaiverwould

have a minor revenue impact. Heagreed that a section of businesses,particularly retailers, would get a re-laxation from documentation but itneeded to be appreciated that a mid-dle step todocumentdistributors andwholesalers would be achieved.The Ninance minister decided thefollowing: Rate of sales tax withhold-ing on purchases from unregisteredpersons has been reduced from 17%to 1% which will not be adjustable.Items added in the third scheduleof theSalesTaxAct1990videFinanceBill 2013 (except for fertilizer and ce-ment) have been omitted from thethird schedule and subjected to twoper cent extra tax in lieuof sales taxatretail stage.Items chargeable to sales tax onretail priceshavebeenexempted fromsales tax withholding regime.Rate of withholding for whole-salers, dealers (including petroleumdealers) and distributors is reducedfrom the current level of one Nifth (i.e3.4%) to one-tenth (i.e 1.7 %) of theapplicable rate of sales tax.Commercial importers who aresubject to withholding on income taxhave been excluded from sales taxwithholding regime. Restriction im-posed under (x) of SRO1125(1)/2011dated2011onrefundsagainst local supplies has been doneaway with to allow refunds (after re-fund scrutiny) as admissible underthe relevant law.The rate of withholding tax ongoodsof transportvehiclesunder sec-tion234of the IncomeTaxOrdinance2001 is reduced from Rs 5 per kg ofthe laden weight to Rs 3 per kg.TheconditionofprovisionofCom-puterised National Identity CardNumber,NationalTaxNumber (NTN)and addresses of retailers under sec-tion 236H to be provided in the with-holding statement under section 165of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 iswaived. Sales tax on fabrics has beenreduced from 5% to 3%. �

Govt reduces sales taxwithholding rates: Dar

iSLaMaBaDsm hAiDErwww.customstoday.com

Federal Secretary CommerceQasim M. Niaz said that thepresent government is taking allpossiblemeasures to get holdof chal-lenges being faced by the businesscommunity and the economy wouldsoon be back on rails.He was speaking at the LahoreChamber of Commerce & Industryrecently. LCCI President FarooqIftikhar gave brief, true and factualview point on economic situation inthe country. The LCCI Senior VicePresident Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, VicePresident Mian Abuzar Shad, formerPresidents Iftikhar Ali Malik, MianMisbah-ur-Rehman, Mian MuzaffarAli, former Senior Vice President So-hail Lashari and former Vice Presi-

dent Aftab Ahmad Vohra also spokeon the occasion.TheFederal Secretary said that thegovernment strongly believes in con-sultation with private sector so thisconcept is being implemented in let-ter and spirit. About 3-year strategicpolicy frame work, the Federal Sec-retary said that a detailed implemen-tationplan is beingevolved tomake itresult-oriented. He said that short-termand medium-termplans are be-ing evolved toovercomeeconomic is-sues.Headmitted that theworkingofTradeDevelopmentAuthority of Pak-istan (TDAP) is beyond satisfactionand government is giving it a freshlook at it to achieve export target.Federal Secretary said that smug-gling is a great challenge and it is be-ing tackled with same amount ofvigor and force.To a question about GSP PlusStatus to Pakistan, the Federal Sec-

retary expressed optimism and saidthat the things are moving in rightdirection.Speaking on the occasion, theLCCI President Farooq Iftikhar saidthat Pakistan should actively enterinto Free Trade Agreements andPreferential Trade Agreements withcountries where it has a clear andmutual comparative competitiveadvantage.He proposed the creation of coun-try-level and regional FTA/PTA Ad-visory Councils involving the repre-sentatives of private sector andofNicials of the Ministry of Commercefor exploring all avenues to beneNitfrom such agreements.The LCCI President said that cur-rently smuggling is at its peak. Mar-kets are Nlooded with smuggled itemscovering all sectors and productscausing loss of billion of rupees tothe national exchequer. �

Govt taking steps to resolve business community issues: commerce SecyLahOrECusToms ToDAY rEPorTwww.customstoday.com

The measure would have norevenue impact and it wassimply removal of a taxanomaly to facilitate thebusiness community, saysFBr chairmanTariq bajwa

lCCi President farooq iftikhar presenting shield to Commerce secretary Qasim m. niaz.

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oPakistan beatsindia in directtax collection

comparison of direct taxcollection of Pakistan and indiashows that the FBr observed agrowth of 44.1pc in July toSeptember 2013 as compared toindian tax authorities’performance that witnessed 12.5per cent increase in direct taxescollection during the sameperiod.The experts explained that inPakistan, rs101.840 billion werecollected under the head of directtaxes during the correspondingperiod against rs70.674 billion inthe same period last fiscal,reflecting an increase of 44.1 percent.While, net direct tax collection ofindia for the current fiscal year, tillSeptember 17, remainedrs238,325 crore againstrs2,11,641 crore in the sameperiod of last year with anincrease of 12.5 per cent. Thecorporate tax collection stoodrs146,610 crore againstrs135,791 crore collected in2012-13, showing a growth of7.97 per cent. according to theexperts, the comparison ofPakistan and india shows that theFBr has witnessed 31.6 per centhigher growth in net direct taxescollection as compared to theindian tax department during theperiod under review. The experts,referring to the recently issued87th report on "Taxadministration's relating to theMinistry of Finance india," saidthat the report talks about newreform measures to improvedirect taxes collection in india.�

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mCC lahore seizes illegal goods worth rs9.7mLAHORE: Anti-smuggling unit of Model Customs Collectorate (MCC) Lahore has confiscated illegalgoods worth Rs9.7 million. As per details, anti smuggling unit Inspector Sikandar Bajwa, acting ona tip-off, raided on two trucks loaded with 50 tons of steel sheet coils being transported fromMisriShah to a local trader’s godwon. The inspector confiscated the illegal coil sheets worth Rs7.5millionand registered a case against the responsible.

FBr decides toreplicateWeboC with improved modules

In order to introduce a uniformevaluation system for clear-ance of goods at all entry andexit points of the country, FederalBoard of Revenue (FBR) has de-cided to replicate the online com-puterized system known as Web-Based One Customs (WeBOC) withimproved modules.This system will be in placewithin the next few months aswork is underway on an urgent ba-sis in this regard, said a senior ofNi-cial of FBR.Tax authorities are facing the gi-gantic task of meeting the highlychallenging revenue target ofRs2475 billion in the current Niscalyear. The incumbent administra-tion believes that without improv-ing administration and simplifyingprocedures the desired tax targetcannot be achieved.“For improving collection at im-port stage in the shape of customsduty, sales tax and withholding tax,FBR wants to put in place a uniNiedevaluation system to plug leakagesas there were complaints that dif-ferent duties were charged at dif-ferent destinations,” a senior ofNi-cial of FBR said.When contacted, Member Cus-toms Nisar Muhammad Khan saidthat FBR was working to improvemodules of WeBOC which would be

replicated at all points, includingdry ports and sea ports, to ensure auniNied system for clearance ofgoods. “We will replicate this sys-tem at all points within the nextthree months,” he added.Member Customs said thatFBR had set up this systembut there were certain stum-bling blocks to working thesystem at all points. Now, FBRis improving modules of We-BOC which will be put up at alldesired places within the nextfew months, he concluded. In thiscontext, the provisions of ChapterXVI-A of Customs Act, 1969 willbe applied to all the notified cus-toms stations throughout Pak-istan.The WeBOC system, developedby FBR’s subsidiary Pakistan Rev-enue Authority Limited (PRAL) isaimed at clearing the goods usingonline facilities by minimizing hu-man interaction.Earlier, FBR had used PakistanAutomated Computerized CustomsSystem (PaCCS) which led to a con-Nlict with the originator of the com-pany named Agility. After this con-troversy, FBR took the decision todevelop its own system called We-BOC.In September 2012, FBR hadmade it mandatory for all exportgoods declarations at Karachi In-ternational Terminal (KICT) andPakistan International Terminal(PICT) to be processed through We-BOC.FBR, the sources said, is all set toconduct audit of WeBOC in the near

future in order to examine itsstrengths and weaknesses.It is relevant to mention herethat all systems developed byPRAL have failed to deliverthe desired results in most ofthe cases. FBR, the sourcessaid, is going to hire a Nirmfor conducting an audit ofWeBOC system and its effec-tiveness.FBR has also organizedworkshops to spread infor-mation about the usage of thepaperless system by the clientskeeping in view the vertical andhorizontal rollout of the indige-nously developed Customs Com-puterized Clearance System We-BOC. During these workshops,tutorials not only covered modulesfor bonded carriers and warehous-ing where external users of the sys-tem were invited for training, butthey also included programmes forthe rollout of the system to otherCollectorates, where the Comput-erized System was not yet opera-tional.Steps were also taken to ex-plain the role of DCs (MIS) in therollout of the system at those Col-lectorates where this paperlesssystem is yet to be made opera-tional. In such a scenario, theDeputy Collectors (MIS) con-cerned should send the hardcopies and other requirements ofthe Collectorates on urgent basisto the Project Team of WeBOC asthe Computerized System willsoon be applied in the remainingCollectorates of the country. �

iSLaMaBaDCusToms ToDAY rEPorTwww.customstoday.com

Pakistan customs isendeavoring to bring somepositive changes in Web

Based One customs (WeBOc).Sources in customs house, Karachitold customs Today that a meetingof the customs officials includingcollector Mcc-West, collectorMcc-East, collector Mcc-Export,collector Mcc-Preventive andProject Director (PD) WeBOc washeld recently in which it wasdecided that some amendmentswill be made in WeBOc system inorder to provide more facilities toimporters and customs agents.

it is pertinent to mention herethat the Pakistan customs,recently constituted a 15-membercommittee headed by PD WeBOcSyed Tanveer and members oftrade bodies including Kcci, FPcci,Karachi customs agentsassociation and others with a viewto improving WeBOc system. ameeting of the said committeewas held a couple of months agoin which the members of tradebodies had forwarded theirrecommendations and suggestionsto the officials of Pakistancustoms. customs agentsobserved a countrywide strike onSeptember 10 for fulfillment oftheir demands, includingimprovement in WeBOc system.The sources further informed thatthe customs officials will take theoffice-bearers of Kcaa and aPcaainto confidence regarding thedecision made by the customsofficials for the up-gradation ofWeBOc System. �

Customs to fixWeboC anomaliesKarachiCusToms ToDAY rEPorTwww.customstoday.com

For improving collection at import stage in the shape of customs duty, sales tax and withholding tax, FBr wants to put in place a unifiedevaluation system to plug leakages as there were complaints that different duties were charged at different destinations

fbr is working to improvemodules of WeBOc whichwould be replicated at all

points, including dry ports andsea ports, to ensure a unified

system for clearance of goods,says Member customs

nisar khan

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simplification of tax collection process underwayLAHORE:Simplificationof tax collectionsystemisafoot inPunjab, saidProvincialMinister forFinance,Excise& TaxationMianMujtaba Shujaur Rehman.He said the governmentwould take solid and practicable steps tofacilitate taxpayers andminimize procedural formalities andpractical difficulties. Property tax,motor vehicletax and tax on services aremajor sources of provincial income, he said, adding, latest technologywas being in-troduced in the department to collect these taxes.

www.customstoday.comOcTOBEr 01 - OcTOBEr 07, 2013

With envisaged target to increasenumber of return Nilers by 20 per-cent for this ongoing Ninancial year,FBR has kick-started countrywide campaignin Large Taxpayer Units (LTUs) and RegionalTaxpayers OfNices (RTOs) for educating the tax-payers to broaden its narrowed tax-base.“Yes, we will make efforts to increase num-ber of return Nilers by at least 20 percent dur-ing the current Niscal year,” a senior FBR ofNicialsaid and added that the tax machinery made itmandatory for all return Nilers to attach wealthstatement along with Niled returns. In the wakeof making wealth statement mandatory andother documents, FBR extended the date for Nil-ing returns up to October 31, 2013.In last Ninancial year, FBR had received in-come tax returns of around 7, 30,000 includingindividuals and corporate sectors. The corpo-rate sector returns stand at 23,000 out of totalreceived returns.“We have kick-started an exercise of sendingtax notices to 10,000 non-Nilers every month,asking them to come forward and dischargetheir national duty of paying due taxes,” a sen-ior ofNicial of FBR conNided. So far FBR has sentnotices to about 25,000 potential non-Nilers in

Nirst three months of the current Niscal year.When contacted, FBR’s Member Inland Rev-enue (IR) Policy Shahid Hussain Asad said FBRextended the deadline for Niling income tax re-turns up to October 31, 2013 and now taxpay-ers would have sufNicient time to collect rele-vant details for Niling their returns within thestipulated timeframe. According to IMF’s re-port on Pakistan, these low numbers reNlectinability of previous reform efforts made byFBR to deliver sustained results.The authorities need to develop and imple-ment a strategy to strengthen tax administra-tion, with the technical assistance of the Fundand the World Bank. While key elements of thestrategy will need to be deNined, it should in-clude signiNicantly stepping-up FBR’s enforce-ment activities and improving its legal author-ity. The IMF states that the anti-moneylaundering framework will need to be fully ap-plied in this effort. Fiscal consolidation willhave to rely heavily on tax policy changes tobroadening the tax base.The implementation of a full Value AddedTax (VAT) remains the Nirst-best option to raisetax revenue. The administrative authority togrant tax exemptions via SROs should be elim-inated to prevent further degradation of thetax net. Income tax should integrate incomefrom all sources, concessions and exceptionsshould be eliminated, withholding should beadjustable, with the minimum tax on turnoverremaining as a control for deduction. �

fbr plans income taxreturn filers to beincreased by 20pc

To collect maximum income tax re-turns, the FBR has obtained data ofaround half million luxurious mo-tor vehicles, official sources said.The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) iscategorising the data of about 450,000vehicles - registered with the KarachiMotor Vehicle Registration Authorityduring the last three years - by capacity-wise and will compare with the returnsfiled by October 31. The sources said ifthe detected people fail to comply withthe provision, they would be sent notices.

The data also include all the vehicles reg-istered under the Amnesty Schemelaunched by the revenue body, he added.A Customs official said the most of thedata was collected of the vehicles havingengine capacity above 1,000CC.He said that Pakistan Customs hasdata of such vehicles and the Board canuse it for identification of potential tax-payers.It is pertinent to mention here thatthrough the Finance Act 2009, a clausewas inserted to Section 114 of the In-come Tax Ordinance 2001 under which itwas made mandatory to file the incometax returns for people having ownershipof vehicles with the engine capacityabove 1,000CC. �

Luxury vehicles data to identify taxpayersKarachiCusToms ToDAY rEPorTwww.customstoday.com

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Quick shipping lines vital to boost fruit exportsLAHORE: Pakistan possesses key strategic location which allows it to increase exports to different countriesthrough strong communication, logistic channels and shipping lines. VicePresidentAsiaPacificRegionMaerskLineThueBarfod said thatMaersk is focusing on emerging export sectors including fruits to provide best ship-ping services to traders. Containers and storage tanks have been designed at high standards for temperaturerequirement, he added.

Pakistan’s tax-to-GDP ratiohad dropped miserably to8.5 percent during last Ni-nancial year 2012-13 from 9.1 per-cent the preceding year 2011-12mainly due to the dismal perform-ance of tax authorities which missedthe annual revenue collection tar-get by Rs 442 billion.According to ‘Year Book 2012-13’,Federal Board of Revenue collectedRs. 1939 billion during previous Nis-cal year as against the original targetof Rs 2381 billion leaving shortfall atRs 442 billion. The report also saidthat FBR failed to achieve the revisedrevenue collection target of Rs 2007billion.FBR during the last two monthsconducted an in-house exercise,analysed data for 2012-13 and Ni-nalised the said report. FBR ex-plained in detail all factors respon-sible for revenue shortfall during2012-13.FBR in its report stated that rev-enue collection target set for previ-ous Niscal year 2012-13 was giganticand its achievement was very difNi-cult amid severe energy crisis andlaw and order situation in the coun-try. The target was linked with ex-pected growth in GDP, the rate of in-Nlation, tax buoyancy and other keyeconomic indicators such as growthin the Large Scale Manufacturingsector and imports.However, the tax department mis-erably failed to achieve the target.The original target of Rs.2381 billionwas however downward revised toRs. 2007billion. ButFBRcould collectonly Rs. 1,939.4 billion.FBR put blame on external as wellas internal factors for missing the an-nual target. The assumption for set-ting target for 2012-13 was too am-bitious. It was estimated at the timeof Nixation of target for FY: 2012-13that the Nominal GDP growth will be16pc during the year i.e., real GDPwas estimated to grow by 4pc andinNlation by 12pc. Similarly, total aswell as dutiable imports were esti-mated to grow by 14.5pc and LargeScaleManufacturing (LSM)by17.2pcin nominal terms. On the contrary,

the actual macroeconomic indicatorsremained below the expected out-come during 2012-13. For instance,real GDP growth was 3.6pc and inNla-tion was 7.8pc.As a result the nominal GDPgrowth was 11.4pc during 2012-13.Similarly, projection for total importand dutiable imports was14.5pc, butimports grew by only 8.4pc whereasdutiable imports grew only by 3.3pc.Similarly, the tax department notedthat the target for 2012-13 was Nixedon the basis of Rs. 1,952 billion to becollected by end of June 2012-13 butactually the collection for the year2012-13 ended up at Rs. 1,883 bil-lion. Thus, the base was eroded byRs 69 billion right from the begin-ning of FY: 2012-13.According to the report, therewere a number of other internal fac-tors which further contributed in theshortfall. FBRhad tobeardeNicit ofRs34 billion due to shifting of sales taxon services fromFBR toPRA (Provin-cial Revenue Authority), which was

integral part of FBR target ofRs. 2381billion. Reduction in rate of sales taxfrom Rs 7 to Rs 4 per unit of electric-ity in cases of Steel Melters and Re-

rollingUnits resulted in thedeclineofcollection of Sales Tax. Suspension ofsection153A, introduced throughFi-nance Act 2012 which was a majordocumentation measure having rev-enue impact of approximately Rs.15billion.The break-up of Rs 1939.4 billionrevealed that collection under directtaxes has been 739.7 billion, which ishigher by 0.2pc as compared to thecorresponding period of last year.As far as customs duty is con-cerned, around Rs. 239 billion hasbeen collected during the year 2012-13. The collection has recorded agrowth of 10.2pc over the collectionof Rs 216.9 billion in the correspon-ding period of last year. The report,however, stated that to gearup the re-source mobilisation efforts a newteam has been brought in FBR towork with zeal and determination.�

FBr Year Book 2012-13 in review

massive shortfall in revenue collection

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07SPEciaLrEPOrTwww.customstoday.comOcTOBEr 01 - OcTOBEr 07, 2013

We have put inplace a modernTax Payer auditManagement

System tofacilitate

taxpayers and toenhance the

audittransparency,says Member

Taxpayers audit

MemberTaxpayersAuditHaroonMuham-mad Khan Tareen said that timely andaccurate Niling of tax returns is a na-tional obligation of every taxpayer. Taxpayersshouldunderstand the importance andutility oftaxes. Reforms inFBRare essential to runall thedepartments working under it smoothly. Forthat purpose, coordination and linkages amongdepartments have to be strengthened on an ur-gent basis.In an exclusive interview with Customs To-day, Mr. Haroon said that balloting was con-ducted transparently as there was no interfer-ence of any department like PRAL which madeit fair and impartial. For thepurposeof auditing,we have put in place a modern Tax Payer AuditManagement System (TAMS) to facilitate tax-payers and to enhance the audit transparency.He stated that the notices for audit will besent through this computerized system whichwill eliminate themeddlingof NiledofNicers. Dueto this there remains no interaction betweentaxpayer and tax authority in auditing processand now powers are conferred to commission-ers.Mr Haroon further elaborated that noticeswill be issued to taxpayers through softwareand every notice will have a separate ID andbar code. This notiNicationpasses through threesteps; Nirstly, the electronically sent notices areadjusted in the taxpayer folder, already made inthe software; secondly, the other copy is sentthrough email and thirdly, SMS is generated.The time of writing letters and correspondencewill also be added in the system.In an answer to a question, he said that NieldofNicers face pressures from taxpayers to fabri-cate the auditing process but we are normallynot informed about this because we only makepolicies over here while the actual implemen-tation of process and conducting of auditing isentirely done by Nield ofNicers.He said that this auditing process has just in-troduced inPakistanbut it is applied around theworld including America. Once the system se-lects a taxpayer, they start his/her auditing forlast 5 or 7 years.While talking about addressing taxpayers’grievances during auditing, Mr Tareen said thatevery taxpayer aggrieved of auditing has theright to appeal. He can approach CommissionerAppeals and Inland Revenue Appellate Tri-bunals consisting of 2 persons. A tribunal con-sists of one grade-21 ofNicer, from Law Ministrywho has powers of a judge. And then the appli-cant can also move the Supreme Court and the

High Courts.In an answer to a question, he said that trialsregarding taxpayer problems are held on an ur-gent basis but still a number of problems delaythe process due to working of tribunals andpsychology of taxpayers. As a tribunal is com-posed of 2 members – the judge and the ac-countant, and for adjudication, presenceof bothis compulsory. If anyone is absent the proceed-ing will be postponed. Sometimes, Taxpayers’lawyers try to takedates fromthe tribunalwith-out prior knowledge of clients. Another culturedeveloping rapidly is that the other party Nileswrit petition through theHighCourt and the taxcases are given secondary importance thereowing tomore important cases likemurder anddacoity, etc. He said, “We lack human resourceand this creates difNiculties in the Nield espe-cially in delivering the notices to taxpayers. Wehave inspectors for sending notices but it’s alengthy process. We have to advertise throughdifferent means.” He stressed that transfers andpostings of all ofNicers in FBR should be held onregular basis, otherwise the department couldnot get the full output fromthoseofNicers. Trans-fers and postings make the ofNicers more efNi-cient and vigilant.He said that present FBRChairmanTariqBa-jwa is a candid and honest ofNicer who is work-ing very sincerely to uplift the performance andenhance the image of FBR. All transfers andpostingsunder the chairmanshipofTariqBajwaare made on merit and competent and honestpersons are posted on prominent posts. �

iSLaMaBaDfAiZA isrArwww.customstoday.com

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08 www.customstoday.comOcTOBEr 01 - OcTOBEr 07, 2013EDiTOriaL

Founder & chairman Zulfiqar AliEditor nasim Ahmed

[email protected]

For advertising & [email protected]

+92-322-3370002www.customstoday.com

Phones: 042-35781643-4, Fax: 042-35781645address: 627, Siddiq Trade centre, Gulberg, Lahore

Giving FBr access to depositors’bank accountshas become a controversial issue. Ever sincethe Government empowered FBr to scrutinize

the bank accounts of potential tax payers through anamendment in the income Tax Ordinance 2001, adebate has been raging in the country about themerits and demerits of the decision. Businessmenand the banking industry have strongly opposed themove on the ground that allowing FBr sweepingpowers to access the confidential account holders’database will erode the depositors’trust and triggera capital flight. FPcci, Kcci, KSE and otherbusinessmen’s bodies have urged the government towithdraw the amendment because besidesviolating the principle of banking secrecy it willretard the process of documentation of theeconomy. it has also been argued that the newpractice may seriously compromise the personalsecurity of customers through leakage of suchinformation to criminal syndicates.The State Bank of Pakistan has also taken exceptionto the new powers given to FBr. in its MonetaryPolicy Statement, the central bank expressedapprehensions that granting such access to FBrcould hit bank deposits by deterring savers to holddeposits with the banks. On the other hand,members of the Senate Standing committee onFinance and revenue have also disapproved themove and unanimously proposed that thegovernment should review its decision.however, the government remains firm in itsresolve despite the fact that the Sindh high courtrecently restricted FBr from taking coercive actionagainst the NiB Bank in the case of disclosinginformation of account holders. Finance Ministerishaq Dar said that it was important for FBr toscrutinize selected bank accounts in order to detectrevenue leakages.Faced with opposition from various quarters, FBrhas adopted a cautious approach in dealing with theissue. it has held out assurances that the newpowers will be used most discreetly without causingany inconvenience to common account holders. FBrchairman Tariq Bajwa has clarified that FBr will goafter only un-documented persons operating out ofthe tax net. FBr has been given the target of raisingthe tax revenue by 25 percent, but it cannotaccomplish the herculean task without devising newways. Giving FBr access to bank accounts is one suchstep which is essential to identify wealthy non-filers.confidence building measures need to be taken toaddress the concerns of the business community.FBr does not need to be very intrusive as banksthemselves have a system of in-house checks andbalances to deal with the menace of moneylaundering and other malpractices. What FBr can doto reassure the business community is to lay downstrict rules with a view to minimizing the possibilityof misuse of powers by the Bureau staff. in thisconnection it will be a good idea to form a jointcommittee of high FBr officials and representativesof FPcci to oversee the monitoring of bankingtransactions on case-to-case basis.�

fbr: ACCEss TobAnk ACCounTs

EDiToriAl

TiEs WiTh TurkEY

Among the few all-weatherfriends that Pakistan hasTurkey, along with China, topsthe list. It is a relationship of deepmutual respect and trust that tran-scends the vagaries of transient po-litical afNiliations and shifting eco-nomic interests. It was thereforelogical that Prime Minister NawazSharif chose to visit the brotherlycountry early on in his tenure.ThePakistanPrimeMinister couldnot have described bilateral relationsmore eloquently than when he saidthatPakistanandTurkeyare like “onenation, two states.” In saying this hereferred to ties whose roots lie deepin history. Much before Pakistan wasborn as an independent state, theMuslims of South Asia resolutelystood by Turkey all through the tur-bulent years of the two world wars.After independence Pakistan forgedclose ties with Turkey, with bothcountries cooperating fruitfully toputtheir bilateral relations on strongfooting and sharing common viewson regional and international issues.In recent years Pakistan and Turkey

have shared the common struggle forbringing their democracies back ontrack.Politically stable andeconomicallystrong, Turkey has in recent yearsemerged as a key regional playerperforming the role of anhonest bro-ker in reconciling differences and re-solving conNlicts betweenneighbours.Nawaz Sharif acknowledged this inthe courseof his visit, saying thatPak-istan would seek the help and guid-ance of Turkey to better advance ourown efforts to combat what has be-come a pervasive threat both to in-ternal stability andexternal relations.The Pakistan Prime Minister heldin-depthdiscussionswithhisTurkishcounterpart Erdogan followingwhichthe two countries signed a numberof agreements and MOUs to increasecooperation in trade, energy, infra-structure development, security andother areas, as well as enhance ef-forts for peace in the region Boththe premiers co-chaired the thirdHigh-Level Cooperation Council(HLCC) meeting, which they de-scribed as ‘very productive’. Later, ad-dressing a joint press conference, thetwo premiers said ‘there was com-plete unanimity of views’ betweenPakistan and Turkey on issues of bi-lateral and regional interest.

During his visit PM Nawaz SharifNawaz called upon the Turkish busi-ness community and entrepreneursto invest inPakistan, especially in sec-tors like energy, infrastructure, engi-neering and the agro-based industry.Turkish companies have a history ofsuccessfully working in Pakistan.Lahore’s Metro Bus System and awind energy project in Sindh aretwo examples of this. Needless tosay, there is tremendous potentialto boost cooperation between thetwo countries in various sectors, in-cluding solar and wind energy, agri-culture, transportation, low costhousing and education. No doubt,there is a huge reservoir of goodwillbetween the two countries, but wehave still a long way to go to trans-late the excellent political relationsinto tangible economic ventures. Inthis connection, the low volume ofbilateral trade needs special atten-tion. To overcome the lack on thisfront, both sides need to put in placestrong institutional mechanisms toprovide a strong platform for imple-menting joint projects alreadyagreed upon. Nawaz Sharif’s assur-ance that a special unit to monitorthe progress of bilateral agreementswould be set up in the PM secre-tariat augurs well for the future. �

one nation, two statesLahOrEnAsim AhmEDwww.customstoday.com

Politically stable andeconomically strong,Turkey has in recentyears emerged as akey regional playerperforming the role ofan honest broker inreconcilingdifferences andresolving conflictsbetween neighbours

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www.customstoday.comOcTOBEr 01 - OcTOBEr 07, 2013 09PicTOriaL

sri lankan customs seizes gold from smugglersCOLOMBO: Sri Lankan customs seized two kilograms of gold from twomen hidden inside their bodies in anattempt to smuggle it out of the country. Two Sri Lankans were caught just before they boarded a flight tothe Indian city of Mumbai, customs spokesman Leslie Gamini said, adding that it was the biggest haul ofgold they had found inside a person. The gold valued at nearly $100,000 was confiscated and themen werefined $384 each.

Need for further strengthening of FTO institution stressed

lAhorE: Businessmenand key members ofLcci casting their votesduring chamber’sannual election2013-14.

lAhorE: LcciPresident Farooqiftikhar in a groupphoto with Lahorecustoms agentsPresident agha iftikharand Senior VicePresident aPcaaNorthern Zonechaudhry amjadduring his visit toMughalpura Dry Port.

kArAChi: Muhammad haroon agar,President Karachi chamber of commercepresenting chamber’s crest to Mr. Muhammadhanif Kasbati, chief Executive Officer, PakistanTextile city Limited.

lAhorE: Ports and ShippingMinister Kamran Michael called on

Governor Punjab ch. MuhammadSarwar at Governor’s house.

In order to provide inexpensive and speedy jus-tice to the people regarding malpractices and ac-countability of the government departments toensure good governance in the country, FTO’s in-stitution needs to be strengthened.This was the crux of speeches at the workshopon “Challenges of Ombudsmanship” on Wednesday.The two-day workshop on “Challenges of Ombuds-manship” was organized by Federal Tax Ombuds-man Secretariat in collaboration with InternationalOmbudsman Institute and the World Bank.Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) Abdul RaufChaudhry inaugurated the workshop while EjazAhmedQureshi, National Commissioner forChildrenWafaqi Mohtasib Secretariat, and Ahmed AwaisPirzada (ProjectDirector) also spokeon theoccasion.Among others, the ceremony was also attendedby Justice (retd) Yasmin Abbasy, Dr. Mirza Phailbusand Country heads of the institutions like WorldBank, UNDP.In his address, FTO Abdul Rauf Chaudhry saidthat the Ombudsman must show to be an effectiveentity, able to provide meaningful relief expe-diously to the common citizens, not only from themaladministration of state functionaries but froman increasingly assertive private sector that wasmaking aggressive inroad into many areas previ-ously seen as an exclusive domain of the state.“Human right issues are now seen as a signif-icant area of concern for the Ombudsman in-cluding the violation of human rights at the work-place, especially for women who are fastbecoming important members of our workforce”,he remarked.The FTO said that the test of Ombudsman todayis how well the ofNice is able to overcome the manychallenges that it faces, adding that a major chal-lenge is to increase efNiciency of this ofNice withoutincreasing expenditure. �

iSLaMaBaDCusToms ToDAY rEPorTwww.customstoday.com

fTo Abdur rauf Chaudhry,sectary Wafaqi mohtasibAtta ullah khan, Punjab’sombudswoman Dr. miraPhailbus and Justice(r)Yasmin Abbasy in a groupphoto before givingcertificates to participantsof two-day workshop onChallenges ofombudsmanship.

Participants taking part in atwo-day workshop organized

by the forum of Pakistanombudsman in collaboration

with the internationalombudsman institute, Vienna

and the World bank.

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NaTiONaL10

freefalling rupee poses serious threat to economyLAHORE:Business community has expressed concern over the continuing fall in value of rupee against theUSdollar as thisposeda serious threat to theeconomy.CentralChairmanPHMASardarUsmanGhani said that thecountry already is facingmultiple internal and external challenges and the rupee devaluation is further aggra-vating theeconomic situation.He said that the constantdownslideof rupeehadadversely affectedall importantsectors of the economy including agriculture, industry,manufacturing, IT and commercial importers.

www.customstoday.comOcTOBEr 01 - OcTOBEr 07, 2013

To,Honourable Mr Ishaq DarFederal Finance Minister,Government of PakistanIslamabad

Sir,We, the Data Controlling Assis-tants (DCAs) working in the Com-puter Bureau Department of Cus-toms House, Karachi, make thefollowing submissions for yourkind consideration:We 26 DCAs, currently work-ing in Grade-10, have been wait-ing for our due promotions for

the last 15 years. For the restitu-tion of our legitimate rights wefiled an appeal in Federal Tribu-nal Service (FTS) in 2010 for theupgradation of our posts in theyear 2010. FTS took up our casesin the year 2012 and then issueda detailed judgment on Jan 1,2013, in which it stated that thedepartment concerned shouldupgrade the post of the Data Con-trol Assistants (BPS-10) to DataProcessing Assistants (BPS-16).However, in violation of the saidorder, the department took no ac-tion for our promotions.

We may mention here that wehad been recruited in 1979, 1982and 1986 in the Computer Bu-reau Department of CustomHouse.It is pertinent to mention herethat while we are waiting for ourpromotion, those who were ap-pointed later and are less experi-enced than us have got promo-tions in BPS-14 and BPS-16through ‘sifarish’.Our promotion in Grade 14was due in 1999 and in Grade 16in the year 2006, but unfortu-nately no action has yet been

taken in our case. The lack of re-sponse from the department hasnot only resulted in colossal fi-nancial loss to us but is also caus-ing us serious mental anxiety anduncertainty about our future.In view of the above, we ap-peal to you to kindly look into thematter and issue orders to therelevant authorities to do justicein our case.Respectfully yoursData Controlling AssistantsCustoms House,Karachi

WriTE us Your griEVAnCEs:Through CusToms ToDAY platform hElPDEsk, now you have chance to DirECTlY writeyour problems to top govt. functionaries.if you have any grievances, queries, questions orsuggestions, you can write in this section as itprovides easiest access to you to approachcustoms and revenue authorities.Who can write in this section?importers & Exporters, customs agents,chambers of commerce, Trade associations andcustoms OfficersTo Whom you can write?honourable PM, Minister/Secretary for Finance &revenue, Minister/Secretary for Ports andShipping, FBr chairman, Member customs andchairperson Senate/National assembly Standingcommittee on Finance & revenue.Send your letters at:[email protected]

Appeal to the finance minister submitted byData controlling assistants, customs Department

hELP DEsk

Pakistan to borrow$625m from banksto halt rupee slide

Transparency int’lurges FBr to verifytax returns of ViPs

Pakistan will borrow $625 millionfrom a consortium of seven localand foreign banks to boost reserves

and stem a slide in the rupee currency, asenior Finance Ministry official said."Talks with the banks have been takingplace for the past few months. initiallythey were offering a loan with a 7.77interest rate, but it was negotiated to5.75 percent for one year," the official,rana asad amin, told reuters.The rupee has lost nearly 7 percent of itsvalue against the US dollar since the newgovernment came to power in June.One of the reasons Pakistan imposed amonth-long ban on gold imports inaugust, apart from reports of goldsmuggling to india, was because thegovernment had been told by forexdealers that a significant amount of tradewas used to cover gold imports, a marketsource told reuters. —CT report

Transparency international Pakistan(TiP) has urged FBr to check thesource of income of as many as 155

ViPs including parliamentarians, as pertheir income tax returns pertaining to taxyears 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.in a letter written to FBr chairman TariqBajwa, the TiP has asked the Board toverify the source of income of these‘very important persons,’who importedbulletproof vehicles for their security.On Sept 16, 2013, Minister for Financeishaq Dar told the National assemblythat various importers had imported155 bulletproof vehicles during the lastfive years after payment of duty/taxes.Moreover, as many as 41 bulletproofvehicles were imported duty-free bythe different individuals/persons, headded. —CT report

FBR is going to get approvednewly-drafted Statutory Regu-latoryOrders (SROs) byFinanceMinister Ishaq Dar for new tax con-cessions and reduction in tax rates.The sources said that FBR draftedthe SROs after endorsement ofKarachi-based business communityand Ministry of Finance. However,FBR will issue the required notiNica-tions after getting Ninal nod from Fi-nance Minister Ishaq Dar on his re-turn from the United States, thesources said, adding that the Board

has moved a summary to the Min-istry seeking approval.Sources explained that the newly-drafted SROs would allow refundsagainst local supplies underSRO.1125(I)/2011 and impose 2 percent extra tax on retail price itemsand reducewithholding sales tax rateon purchases from unregistered per-sons from 17 to 1pc. Through SROs,the rate of withholding sales tax onpurchases fromunregisteredpersonswould be reduced from 17 to 1 percent, which will not be adjustable.

Items added in the Third Schedule tothe Sales Tax Act 1990 vide FinanceBill 2013 (except for fertiliser and ce-ment) would be omitted from theThird Schedule and subjected to 2per cent extra tax in lieuof sales tax atretail stage. Under the draft notiNica-tions, the items chargeable to salestax on retail prices would be ex-empted from sales tax withholdingregime, rate of withholding forwholesalers, dealers anddistributorsis being reduced fromcurrent level ofone-Nifth to one-tenth. —CT Report

New tax concessions await final nod

A show window on Pakistancommerce Minister calls Expo 2013

Federal Minister of State forCommerce and Textile In-dustry Khurram DastgirKhan has said that achieving higheconomic growth through fresh in-vestment is the top priority of thegovernment.Talking to the media after inau-gurating Expo Pakistan 2013 atKarachi Expo Centre, the Ministersaid that economic growth and in-creasing foreign trade were twocornerstones of the present gov-ernment.Referring to the expo he said,“Over the years, Expo Pakistan hasdeveloped into a world class eventand provides an opportunity toportray a soft image of the coun-try”. “Terrorist activities have tar-nished the image of the countrybut events like trade fairs and cul-tural shows help a lot in mitigatingthe negative impact,” the Ministerobserved.The Minister appreciated theinitiative of the Trade Develop-ment Authority of Pakistan (TDAP)

for regularly holding such megaevents for the last eight years, par-ticularly when the country isbogged down in a war against ter-rorism.Responding to a question, theMinister said that despite severeenergy crisis, there were visiblesigns of growth in economic activ-ity. He said that the governmentwas vigorously working on the en-ergy sector and hopefully withinthe next two years the powershortages would be reduced to agreater extent.Accompanied by Secretary Com-merce Qasim M Niaz, TDAP Secre-tary Rabiya Javeri Agha and otherhigh officials, the Minister visiteddifferent stalls and pavilions.He first took a round of theMalaysian Pavilion where a largenumber of Malaysian companiesdisplayed their products under theumbrella of Malaysian ExternalTrade Development Corporation(Matrade).He also showed keen interest inUS Agency for International Devel-opment (USAID) pavilion display-ing a variety of products under thebanner of “Roshan Pakistan.” Theproducts on display are manufac-tured in collaboration with localcompanies. �

KarachiCusToms ToDAY rEPorTwww.customstoday.com

Over the years, Expo Pakistanhas developed into a worldclass event and provides an

opportunity to portray a softimage of the country, says

Federal Minister of State forcommerce and Textile industry

khurram Dastgir

PiaF-Foundersalliance sweepsLcci polls

Pakistan industrial andTraders associations Front(PiaF) has thanked the

businessmen for reposingconfidence in PiaF-Foundersalliance .Sohail Lashari elected Lcci newpresident while Mian Tariq Misbahelected Senior Vice President andKashif anwar elected VicePresident.according to Lcci election schedule,September 26 was last date forfiling of nominations for Lcci office-bearers for year 2013-14 and noother candidate turned up for filingnomination against Sohail Lashari,Mian Tariq Misbah and Kashifanwar therefore all the three madetheir way to victory stand.Earlier, PiaF-Founders alliancemade clean sweep by winning allthe 8 seats of Lcci corporate classfor year 2013-14. Total 742 voteswere polled out of 2275 while 16votes were rejected due totechnical reasons. PiaF-Founderalliance got 488 panel votes whilethe Progressive Group got 99 panelvotes. PiaF-Founders alliancecandidate Tahira Munir had alreadybeen elected unopposed on oneseat reserved for woman.Meanwhile, PiaF-Foundersalliance made another cleansweep by winning all the 7 seatsof Lcci associate class for year2013-14 .Total 1832 votes were polled outof 6068 while 43 votes wererejected due to technical reasons.PiaF-Founder alliance got 994panel votes while the rivalsProgressive and azad groupssecured 363 & 190 panel votesrespectively. �

LahOrECusToms ToDAY rEPorTwww.customstoday.com

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carTOONSSPEciaL 11www.customstoday.comOcTOBEr 01 - OcTOBEr 07, 2013

fbr employees’ union elections on oct 15ISLAMABAD: The elections of FBR’s Federal Revenue Alliance Employees Union CBAwill be held onOctober15, 2013. Union President Rana Shakeel Ahmed informed Customs Today that there are 650members in theunion and the candidates will vie for 16 posts of the union office-bearers. Union President Rana Shakeel, VicePresident Ghulam Rasool (Billa), Gen Secy M Sadiq Qureshi and Secy Information Malik Abid are very opti-mistic about their victory. They hoped that their panel would win the upcoming elections unopposed.

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Published by M. F. riaz, Off. 91, 3rd Flr, Gul Plaza, M.a. rd., Karachi, for customs Today and Printed at Dhoom Printing Press Masheer Mahal Building, Off: i. i. chundrigar road, Karachi

12 www.customstoday.comOcTOBEr 01 - OcTOBEr 07, 2013