Custom House, Karachi, 06th August, 2025 : A presser was given today in Customs House, Karachi regarding progress on reforms in the appraisement side of Customs. The Chief Collector while highlighting the progress informed that major reforms on the customs side are now on ground. The CAU is operational from08.00 in the morning to 12:00 at night and 1,500 to 2,000 GDs are being cleared daily.The assessment of over 95 % GDs is completed on the same day. The completion rate of physical examination in case of GDs allocated to the Red channel has increase substantially due to operationilzation of CEU and posting of around 50 additional examiners by the FBR.
In the past same day completion rate was around 50 % which is now around 90 %. In case of single item GDs and GDs filed at 10 off-dock terminals, same day completion rate is almost 100%. The reviews are now being conducted by the ACs/ DCs in virtual mode and importers and their agents are not required to visit the customs offices. The result is that over 90 % reviews field before the ACs/DCs are disposed of on the same day. The chief collector also informed that referrals of samples to laboratory is being monitored at the senior level to ensure that samples are not unnecessarily referred to the lab and test reports are fed by the chemical examiners on the same day. The initiatives of Direct Port delivery and Decoupling of Payment from GD filing are also in the offing. The said initiatives would further facilitate the trade, would reduce congestion at the port, and would ease the liquidity constraints of the importers.
These reforms are a paradigm shift in the overall culture of Customs and certainly there are losers and gainers. The report which appeared in the media allegedly on some audit observation of the PCA regarding clearance of vehicles under special schemes for the expatriate Pakistanis is a case in point. The clearance under these schemes is subject to conditions imposed by the import policy order and there is no change in the clearance process and conditions under the FCA. Moreover, there is no element of revenue loss but there seems to be a deliberate attempt to undermine FCA through such reports.He further emphasized that the reforms are creating their constituency with each passing day due to visible benefits in the form of reduction in cost of doing business for genuine traders and there is no question of their rollback.
