Despite closure of Sust border: Over Rs17bn customs duty collection surpasses target

ISLAMABAD: Despite closure of Pak-China Border (Border Customs Station, Sust), the Customs Region (North) of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has collected Rs17.102 billion as customs duty during the first nine months (July-March) 2020-21 against the assigned target of Rs14.350 billion, reflecting a growth of 19 percent.

According to the updated data released by the Customs Department on Saturday, under the head of customs duty, the Region collected Rs1.975 billion during March 2021 against the monthly target of Rs1.509 billion, surpassing the monthly target by a hefty margin of Rs466 million (31 percent).

The Customs Region (North) also surpassed customs duty target set for the first nine months of 2020-21 by generating additional revenue of Rs2.752 billion by the Model Customs Collectorates falling under the jurisdiction of the said Region.

Within the category of other taxes, an amount of Rs1,919 million was collected under the head of sales tax whereas; Rs4,648 million was collected as overall duty/taxes during

the month by the region.

The Region has so far been able to collect a total of Rs41,060 million as duty/taxes during the period July 2020 – Mar 2021.

In spite of continuous closure of Pak-China Border (Border Customs Station, Sust) due to the COVID-19 pandemic, other Collectorates of the region i.e., MCC Islamabad and MCC (Appraisement and Facilitation), Peshawar performed exceptionally well enabling the region to achieve the overall revenue target of the Region, also covering Rs2,025 million as the Customs duty target, assigned to MCC Gilgit-Baltistan for July, 2020 – Mar, 2021.

Customs Region (North) comprises four Collectorates i.e., Model Customs Collectorates of Islamabad, MCC Gilgit-Baltistan, MCC (Appraisement and Facilitation), Peshawar and MCC (Enforcement and Compliance), Peshawar covering Islamabad/ Rawalpindi, the whole of KP as well as the merged districts of erstwhile FATA and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Dr Asif Mahmood Jah, Chief Collector Customs (North) was conferred Hilal-e-Imtiaz by the President for rendering valuable humanitarian services in Pakistan and abroad.

No other civil servant has been decorated twice in his career.

On the counter-smuggling side, keeping up with the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan to curb the menace of smuggling, the Customs Region (North) seized goods worth Rs535 million during March 2021. Moreover, the region has been able to seize goods worth Rs4,140 million during July 2020 to March 2021, which include non-duty paid vehicles, dry/fresh fruit, narcotics, foreign origin fabric, tyres, electronics, cigarettes, and other miscellaneous commodities.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021