In a major move to prevent ''ISAF/NATO containers scam'' in future, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has decided to establish a Directorate General of Afghan Transit Trade to regulate and exclusively handle all issues relating Afghan Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA).
Sources told Business Recorder here on Monday that the main purpose of the creation of a separate Directorate General of Afghan Transit Trade is to monitor the movement of transit trade consignment to check scams like ''ISAF/NATO containers in future. The directorate would be headed by a senior customs official who would be responsible to supervise its functioning. The directorate would be established at Karachi and its key function would be to exclusively regulate and monitor the Afghan transit trade consignments under the APTTA. The cases of missing containers scam would be effectively checked with the help of Directorate General of Afghan Transit Trade.
Directorate General of Afghan Transit Trade would be a separate department with the mandate to totally focus on operations of the Afghan transit trade and monitor consignments to ensure rules and regulations have been duly followed by the importers. With this major initiative to improve customs operations at Pak-Afghan borders, it is expected that the implementation of a separate directorate would be successful in checking missing containers during their transportation to Afghanistan.
Directorate General of Afghan Transit Trade would also be given the assignment to ensure that any kind of fraud could not be committed by unscrupulous elements. This would be done by proper checking of documents during clearance of Afghan cargo at Pakistani ports.
Sources said that the FBR has also decided for not giving any other assignment to the Directorate General of Afghan Transit Trade except monitoring of transit trade. The Terms of the Reference and powers and jurisdiction of the new directorate would be notified after approval of the directorate at the highest level.
In the absence of an exclusive directorate to monitor the Afghan transit trade consignments, misuse of the transit trade facility has been witnessed with violations of rules and regulations. The directorate would also place effective checks to ensure that the destined cargo has reached Afghanistan without opening the containers during transportation. This would only be possible in the presence of an exclusive department like Directorate General of Afghan Transit Trade to deal with all matters of the APTTA in future, sources added.