Customs asked to adopt standard units of measurement for 7,575 items

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Thursday directed all field formations of Customs to adopt standard units of quantity/ measurement (UoM) of 7,575 items specified.

In this connection, the FBR issued customs general order (CGO) 5 of 2022, here on Thursday.

According to the FBR’s instructions to the field formations, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 223 of the Customs Act, 1969 and in supersession of Customs General Order No 15/2019, September 13, 2019, the FBR has directed all field formations of Customs to adopt standard units of quantity/ measurement (UoM) expressed in the Annex-I of the CGO.

The units of measurement have been revisited in terms of recommendations of the World Customs Organization (WCO) and international/national trading practices to maintain uniformity and to improve collection, comparison and analysis of trade statistics and facilitation trade, based on the harmonised system. Two columns have been created, one for statistical purposes and the other for assessment purposes to meet these objectives.

Due to the adoption of the HS-2022 version, certain addition, deletion and new creation of PCT codes have been made in Pakistan Customs Tariff. Therefore, an updated PCT Code-wise UoMs to accommodate these changes is enclosed as Annex-I to the CGO. The standard units of quantity are: Weight kilogrammes (kg), carat (carat), Length meters (m), Area square meters (m2), Volume cubic meters (m3), liters(1), Electrical power 1,000 kilowatt hours (1,000 kWh), Numbers, pieces/items (u), Pairs (2u), dozens (12u), thousands of pieces/items(1,000 u),and packs (u (jeu/pack).

The importers/clearing agents/shipping agents and all others concerned are directed to furnish invoices/documents/information in accordance with the new UoMs prescribed by this CGO. For proper assessment of items internationally traded in any other UoM than the one given in either of the columns in the Annex, such UoM shall also be declared, in addition to the units given for the purposes of assessment. Necessary provision shall be created in Customs Computerised System for this purpose.

No document including Goods Declaration (GD) shall be accepted after I 5th January 2023, if the information regarding units of quantity declared/shown is not in accordance with this order, the FBR added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022