In a significant relief to the industry, the government has agreed to relax labeling conditions until the end of June 2019 to expedite the clearance of consignments stuck at ports. This decision was confirmed by industry sources on Wednesday.
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Eatery owners knowingly ignore hygiene requirements: Sindh Food Authority
KARACHI: Eatery owners are well aware about their shortcomings yet they ignore hygiene requirements and compromise with public health, Abrar Ahmed Sheikh, Director Operations, Sindh Food Authority (SFA) said on Tuesday.
Talking at Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), the director urged the owners of all eateries, restaurants, bakeries and other food-related businesses to improve the hygienic conditions in their business premises and provide safe & healthy food to the public otherwise strict action will continue to take place and no compromise will be made over the quality and hygienic conditions.
Abrar Sheikh said: “It is impossible that the eatery owners are not aware of the shortcomings. They know what exactly is going wrong and they simply cannot deny it yet they ignore it, do not take remedial measures and continue to play with lives of the masses by providing unhygienic and hazardous food which cannot be tolerated.”
President KCCI Junaid Esmail Makda, Senior Vice President Khurram Shahzad, Vice President Asif Sheikh Javaid, Former President AQ Khalil, Former Vice President Agha Shahab Ahmed Khan, Chairman All Pakistan Restaurants Association Shaukat Ali Omerson, Managing Committee members and a large number of businessmen associated with food-related businesses also attended the meeting.
Director Operations SFA further stated that SFA works under a transparent mechanism in which the working parameters for food technologists and food safety officers have been defined in such a manner that leave absolutely no room for any kind of under the table deal therefore, all businessmen associated with food businesses should stop thinking about bribing the officers and must rectify their shortcomings, improve the hygienic conditions and provide healthy food to the masses otherwise they will be taken to task by the Authority.
He explained that SFA never seals any business premises immediately after identifying hygiene and food quality related shortcomings as the authority initially issues an improvement notice and also raises awareness about the hygiene and food quality requirements, which is followed by a warning notice and penalty if the eatery owners fail to improve.
Subsequently, if the eatery owners continue to avoid taking corrective steps even after the imposition of penalty and warning notice, it leaves no other option for SFA but to seal the business premises under Section 45 of CrPC that results in temporary suspension of commercial activities until all the SFA requirements are complied.
Referring to President KCCI’s remarks, Director SFA said, “We also want to promote the ease of doing business but no compromise will made over the food quality and hygienic conditions. It is high time to change which has become inevitable now.
“We firmly believe in consultation rather than taking decisions in isolation, which is the basic reason why SFA carries out awareness drives prior to issuing any warning notice or imposing penalty.”
He further informed that work was in progress at SFA for setting up a world-class state-of-the-art laboratory where the facility to carry out all forms of tests and verifications will be available which will be acceptable globally.
Vegetables being cultivated by using the sewage water cannot be tolerated which was a very serious issue therefore, the SFA has decided to initiate a massive drive in which all such productions will be completely bulldozed and strategies will be devised to make that no sewage water is used in future for cultivation of vegetables, he added.
He stressed that both institutions will have to work collectively to create a healthier society. “We need KCCI’s support otherwise we cannot move forward”, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, President KCCI Junaid Esmail Makda stated that the Karachi Chamber has been successfully playing the role of bridge between the business community and SFA therefore, any grievance being faced by businessmen be brought to Chamber’s notice so that the issue could be amicably resolved.
“The authorities at Sindh Food Authority must also work closely with KCCI and carry out all its operation in consultation with KCCI in order to create an enabling business environment”, he added.
He was of the opinion that prior to taken any action, SFA must hold frequent awareness sessions and make people aware of the required hygienic conditions and food quality as it takes many years to build a brand name which is destroyed within minutes as it has been observed that all the activities being carried out by SFA were being widely broadcasted in the media.
He also underscored the need to adopt uniform policies by all the food authorities across Pakistan as it has been observed that these policies vary in Sindh, Punjab and KPK, creating a confusing situation for businessmen.
Referring to SFA operation largely confined to Karachi only, he said that the department should expand its operations to other cities of Sindh as well where hundreds of people were suffering terribly due to unhygienic and low-quality food stuff.
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Printing details, ingredients on imported goods: KCCI demands reviewing notification implementation date
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.
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FBR to improve capacity for action against tax evaders
KARACHI: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is increasing its capacity to handle large size data of tax evaders, FBR chairman said in a meeting with members of Karachi Chambers of Commerce and Industry (KCCI).
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Business community welcomes govt. resolve for eradicating corrupt FBR elements
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.
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Prime Minister invites suggestions on new tax amnesty scheme: KCCI
KARACHI: Prime Minister Imran Khan has asked business community to give their suggestions for a new tax amnesty scheme, said Junaid Makda, President, Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on Monday.
Makda said that the prime minister recently met representatives of chambers and associations of the country, including KCCI, to take feedback on the economy.
At the meeting the challenges to business community was discussed, Makda said.
The meeting was also attended by federal ministers and advisers.
The prime minister discussed about improving GDP growth. The prime minister also expressed reservations over failure of past amnesty schemes, Makda said.
The prime minister invited suggestions for new amnesty scheme, Makda said, adding that the KCCI suggested amnesty for local taxpayers.
KCCI president said that the business community informed the prime minister that due to difficult tax environment most people preferred out of tax net.
Makda suggested that litigation against taxpayers should be withdrawn. Those taxpayers paying more should be given priority, he added.
KCCI president said that division of filers and non-filers created immense problems. Besides, zero rated and non-zero rated also created difficulties at industrial level, he added.
He also demanded that notices to beneficiaries of past amnesty schemes from NAB and FIA should be stopped.
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KCCI expresses concerns over shifting weekly holiday rumors
KARACHI: Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has cautioned that any move to shift weekly holiday from Sunday to Friday would be resisted and it should not be done as it will completely cutoff Pakistan from many western countries around the world for three-and-a-half consecutive days.
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KCCI shows concerns over gas shutdown to industries
KARACHI: Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has expressed serious concerns over abrupt shutdown of gas supply to industries and said that such closure caused immense losses to the tune of billions of rupees.
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KCCI hopes reform package to boost industrialization
Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has expressed hopes that reform package to boost industrialization.
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Phone tax ban hampers sales tax collection: SRB chairman
KARACHI – The imposition of restrictions on sales tax collection for telephone services by the Supreme Court of Pakistan has had a detrimental impact on overall revenue collection, as stated by Khalid Mahmood, Chairman of the Sindh Revenue Board (SRB).
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