Incoming international passengers: No new currency declaration regime introduced: FBR

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) late Sunday night categorically clarified that the FBR has not introduced any new currency declaration regime for incoming international passengers.

According to the FBR’s announcement on Sunday, a misleading impression has been created that Pakistan has recently imposed currency declaration requirements for passengers coming into Pakistan, which is contrary to facts.

Unlike portrayed by some section of the press, the mandatory requirement for passengers coming into Pakistan and bringing currency and/ or negotiable instruments was notified by the State Bank of Pakistan more than 10 years ago vide notification no. F.E.1/2012-SB dated 16th June 2012. This requirement came into force on July 01, 2012.

Subsequently, in order to widen the scope of declaration to include gold jewellery, precious stones and other prohibited/ restricted goods, Pakistan Customs also introduced a comprehensive “Customs Declaration Form for Passengers”, which was notified vide SRO 689(I)/2019 dated 29th June, 2019. These rules cover both the incoming and outgoing passengers.

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These requirements for declaration are in line with international standards and the best practices adopted by most of the countries in the world, FBR maintained.

The passengers can make the declaration either manually at the Customs counter or electronically in the Customs System.

In order to increase awareness amongst the international passengers, Pakistan Customs has been collaborating with the Civil Aviation Authority, Airlines, and Immigration Authorities to improve its outreach for both departing and arriving passengers. As a result, the compliance has been steadily increasing, FBR stated.

FBR has further reiterated that the currency declaration regime for all international passengers has been in field for more than a decade, rather than being recently introduced on account of any recent FATF review requirements.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022