Category: Trade & Industry

KARACHI: Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has demanded the commerce ministry to review the date of implementation of a notification regarding printing of details and ingredients on the imported goods.

In a statement on Monday KCCI President Junaid Esmail Makda requested Advisor to PM for Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood to instruct relevant department to inform all concerned about the implementation date of SRO 237(I)/2019 i.e. July 1, 2019 to prevent blockage of clearance of pending consignments and direct the Ministry of Commerce & Textile (Commerce Division) to issue necessary amendment in the SRO stating the effective date as 1st July’2019.

In a statement issued, President KCCI stated that SRO 237, which has been finalized and implemented without any consultation with the business community and other stakeholders, was not acceptable in its present state and it has to be reviewed in consultation with all stakeholders.

Referring to a letter sent to PM’s Advisor and the discussions held with Chairman Businessmen Group & Former President KCCI Siraj Kassam Teli about the implementation of SRO 237(I)/ 2019 dated February 19, 2019, President KCCI said that although the PM’s Advisor clarified that the said SRO will be implemented from July 1, 2019 but no notification carrying the exact date of implementation has been issued so far which has created a confusing situation and resulted in blockade of containers at the ports which is totally contrary to government’s resolve towards the ease of doing business.

He demanded that the losses suffered by importers on account of demurrage and detention due to the confusion must be waived off to provide some relief to perturbed traders who have been constantly approaching KCCI to seek assistance.

“It is a matter of grave concern that Customs Authorities remain confined to SRO 237 and were not paying any attention to the hardships being faced by traders hence, the Ministry of Commerce must issue the clarification about the implementation date so that SRO 237 is not misused to create problems for traders”, he added.

He said that since the effective date of 1st July’2019 was not mentioned in the SRO.237, in legal terms date of issue has been interpreted as the effective date, and customs officials at various levels have held the clearance of cargo on pretext of seeking clarification from FBR which led to delays and resulted in raising the costs of demurrage and detention to the importers.

He was of the opinion that the implementation of said SRO from July 1, 2019 has provided sufficient time period of more than three months to foreign manufacturers of food stuffs to comply with recent amendments in the Import Policy Order 2016.

According to SRO 237, it has been made mandatory that the ingredients and details of the imported food products (e.g. nutritional facts, usage instructions etc.) shall be printed in Urdu and English languages on consumer packaging while the logo of Halal certification body shall also be printed on the consumer packaging and the labelling shall not be in the form of a sticker, overprinting, stamp or scratched label.

Moreover, the importers have been further advised that the shipment shall be accompanied by a Halal Certificate issued by Halal Certification Body, accredited with an Accrediting Body which is a member of International Halal Accreditation Forum (IHAF) or Standard Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries.

KARACHI: The business community has welcomed firm resolve of the government for eradicating corrupt elements from Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to boost trust level on tax collecting agency.

President Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) Junaid Esmail Makda, while hailing Prime Minister’s remarks about reforming the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR), said that the business and industrial community highly appreciates PM’s resolve to reform the FBR and also welcomes his warning to create a new tax collection authority if FBR fails to end harassment and corruption which was a good idea. Unabated corrections must continue at the FBR without any stoppage in order to make it taxpayers friendly.

“Either in the existing or the new FBR, there is a dire need to create trust while corruption has to be completely eradicated by immediately expelling the corrupt FBR officials which would help in dealing with the trust deficit and encourage people to come forward to pay their taxes without any kind of fear of harassment”, he advised in a statement issued on Friday.

He pointed out that massive corruption of up to Rs500 billion at FBR was claimed some two to three years ago by the then Ministers who assured to strictly deal with the same but unfortunately not a single step was taken against the element responsible for such a massive corruption.

“It is heartening to see that the present government has given a clear warning to get rid of FBR if it fails to improve as they are also well-cognizant of the miseries being suffered by loyal taxpayers due to massive wrongdoings and unbridled corruption”, he added.

He stressed that in order to achieve the desired objectives, the decision makers in Islamabad will have to take practical steps to end the harassment and arm-twisting tactics being used by FBR officials to gain personal benefits only while the honest officials must be promoted and brought forward at the helm of the affairs.

Junaid Makda was of the opinion that the taxation laws also need to be reviewed in consultation with all the stakeholders as massive discretionary powers have been conferred to FBR officials even at the lower level which are being used as tool for arm-twisting and squeezing the existing taxpayers.

The existing FBR and even any new FBR in future will not be able to generate the desired revenue and provide relief to loyal taxpayers until the government revisits all taxation laws and subsides the draconian discretionary powers.

He also underscored the need to simplify the cumbersome taxation procedures so that maximum number of individuals could be encouraged to pay their taxes while the tax collection authority must be directed to strictly take action against tax evaders instead of overburdening and further squeezing the existing taxpayers.

Appreciating Prime Minister’s positive response on Asset Declaration Scheme and the business community’s apprehensions over last Amnesty Scheme, he said that it was assured that all details of the individuals availing Amnesty Scheme 2018 will be kept confidential but it was not done and more and above, they were asked to submit a very complex and detailed wealth form which was later used by FBR and FIA to harass the beneficiaries of amnesty scheme so it must not be repeated in the new Asset Declaration Scheme which must ensure that the secrecy of beneficiaries’ data has to be maintained while the wealth form must also be simplified with limited details to encourage maximum number of individuals to declare their assets.

As 97 percent of last year’s amnesty scheme was availed by Karachi-based individuals, the government will have to devise effective strategies so that individuals from every nook and corner of the country could avail this year’s Asset Declaration Scheme which would help in documenting the economy, encourage growth and bring thousands of individuals into the tax net, he added.

While extending full support and cooperation to the government in improving the tax collection system, President KCCI hoped that the government would continue to keep reforms at the FBR on top of its agenda until a taxpayers friendly and trustworthy environment is created which is badly needed in order to make Pakistan self-reliant with zero dependence on foreign aids and loans.