FBR to suspend terminals, dry ports lacking infrastructure, IT compliance

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has decided to suspend/cancel registration of terminal operators of sea port/off-dock terminal/dry port or land border station, which fails to fulfil minimum requirements of infrastructure, information technology and documentation etc.

The FBR has issued customs general order (CGO) 7 of 2025 to tighten monitoring and supervision of terminal operators.

The FBR’s procedure revealed that according to rule 548 of the Customs Rules, 2001, every terminal operator conducting terminal operations under the Customs Computerized System (CCS) is required to fulfil the minimum requirements specified under rule 554 relating to building and infrastructure, examination facilities, secure environment. information technology and documentation.

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The provisions of rules 548 to 554 are mutatis mutandis applicable on off-dock terminal operators in terms of rule 554A. The off-dock terminal operators are further obliged to fulfil the requirements mentioned in pare 3 of the guidelines issued by the Federal Board of Revenue in July 2024.

Moreover, the aforesaid provisions are equally applicable on dry ports and land border stations registered as terminal operators in the CCS.

To ensure regular and periodic verification of the minimum requirements provided under Customs Rules, the following instructions are being issued for strict compliance by all concerned:

i); Inspection of the minimum requirements or conditions at sea terminal, off-dock terminal, dry port or land border station as the case may be, will be carried out every six months by the concerned regulatory collectorate. The inspection report will categorically state the level of availability of each specific requirement as envisaged in rule 554 or 554A. as the case may be.

ii); In case, any shortcomings or deficiencies are pointed out in the inspection report, the respective terminal operator of sea port/ off-dock terminal/ dry port or land border station, will be intimated in writing to fulfil the same within fifteen days and submit compliance report to the Collectorate.

iii); Where the terminal operator of sea port / off-dock terminal/ dry poet or land border station fails to comply with requirement or does not respond to the inspection report, the Regulatory Collector shall initiate proceedings for suspension/ cancellation of registration of the terminal operator in terms of the provisions of rule 553 of the Customs Rules, 2001 read with Section 155F of the Customs Act, 1969.

iv); Where the registration of terminal operator of sea port / off-dock terminal/ dry port or land border station, is suspended or cancelled in terms of rule 553 for the reasons mentioned above, the same will be restored if the Regulatory Collector is satisfied that they have complied with the requirements envisaged under the rules.

The Regulatory Collectorate shall forward compliance report to the Board in respect of each terminal operator after every six months, FBR added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025