Report detects flaws in Pakistan’s border control regime

Inquiry reveals empty trucks returning from Afghanistan are not electronically registered

ISLAMABAD: A fact-finding report has found a custom intelligence claim of 355 containers skipping the Torkham border post without paying tax fallacious but the intelligence’s work has helped identify serious flaws in Pakistan’s border control regime that may carry implications for its national security.

Empty trucks retuning from Afghanistan are not electronically registered, which is “prone to misuse and concealments”, reveals the fact finding inquiry regarding allegations of “blatant fraud perpetrated at the Torkham Customs stations. The allegations had been levelled by Directorate General of Customs Intelligence & Investigation against the customs department.

The inquiry report further reveals that entry passes were issued to Afghan goods for entry from non-listed border points under national security and socio-economic considerations. The inquiry committee dispatched the final report to the FBR headquarter last month.

“The charge of clearance of 355 vehicles was levelled without proper groundwork and examination of the relevant record,” according to the findings. The vehicles that were claimed to have escaped not only paid the duties but also filed goods declarations, stated the inquiry report.

“The Special Report of Directorate General Intelligence and Investigation have levelled four major allegations which are neither substantiated nor based on facts,” it added.

The main and serious charge of clearance of 355 vehicles from custom station Torkham has been diluted as undeniable clearance documents are available on record indicating payment of duties of Rs214 million in the case of 323 vehicles, according to the findings.

“It proves without shadow of any doubt that officers and staff appointed at Custom station Torkham worked diligently”.

The report also stated that the custom intelligence and investigation did not provide evidence of forging goods declaration document in certain cases.

The FBR headquarters had ordered the fact-finding report after the Directorate General of Intelligence and Investigation pointed out that “foreign goods are either being smuggled into the country without filling goods declaration or being mis-declared through falsification.”

The Directorate General of Intelligence and Investigation claimed that there were 355 vehicles that passed through the Torkham border without electronically filing the goods declaration, which is mandatory.

To the allegation of permission to allow road pass vehicles from Ghulam Khan Customs Station which is not a prescribed route, the fact-finding committee has said that these posts are manned by the military.

The tribal district administration issues the road entry passes, with the support of the deployed armed forces for security reasons, national interest and peculiar socio-economic environment to facilitate the divided tribes for their consumable supplies, according to the findings.

“In order to address the issue and discuss the socio-economic as well as security related implications, a meeting was held in Ministry of Commerce on March 3 in which FBR, Military Operation Directorate and representatives of security agencies participated,” noted the report.

Instructions have been issued to all the law enforcement agencies for disallowing the entry of these vehicles, the issue can only be permanently addressed in consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, armed forces on border, local administration and the Afghan government, according to the report.

The meeting recommended that the custom posts at Ghulam Khan, Kharlachi and Angoor Adda may also be added as new entry and exit routes in the current Acghan Transit Trade Agreement 2010 for entry and exit of Afghan registered vehicles.

The inquiry committee has recommended including customs officers in Border Flag Meetings for better coordination amongst border management agencies. There is need for establishment of State of The Art border terminal at Torkham.

Pakistan has a porous border with Afghanistan that is major source of smuggling and illegal movement of cash couriers, although the military has started fencing the border. Smuggling of sugar and wheat to Afghanistan created crisis like situation in Pakistan, prompting the prime minister to order inquires.

The customs intelligence had also levelled an allegation that there was nonexistence of requisite control of customs over movement of imported cargo which is being cleared in a highly irregular manner.

The fact finding committee has found some weight in this allegation and noted that “although the WeBOC (Web Based One Customs system) has already been launched and made operational at the station, yet, the working of the custom station at operation level is still paper based to some extent,” reveals the report.

“The manual documentary system needs improvement and incorporation in the WeBOC module,” according to the report.

It has also recommended that the role of cross border of export consignments and gate-in of trucks in import and export may be shifted to National Logistic cell that is the terminal operator.

There is also no module in WeBOC for regulating returning empty export vehicles from Afghanistan. This leaves them out of the purview of WeBOC and thus prone to misuse and concealments, according to the report.

The fact-finding report has emphasised that the NLC should take full responsibility of its obligations and “security system, identification and monitoring of vehicle system needs to be implemented by NLC on the ground”.

The report noted that no specific verification protocol exists for verification of certificates of origin of these import consignments from Afghanistan.

It added the custom authorities never verified the certificate of origin, quarantine or phytosanitary certificates were never submitted in the past too. But the border posts record showed that these documents were made available in the goods declaration files on WeBOC system only after 2018 and they are now regulatory uploaded.

The report admitted that the observation of the Directorate of Intelligence and investigation to the extent of absence of a proper verification mechanism is correct. It added the customs authorities have taken up this issue with Foreign Office for establishing a protocol for verification of certificate of origin certificate. But no response has been given by the foreign office of Pakistan.

The report has recommended immediately setting up a mechanism between Pakistan and Afghanistan to plug any possibility of importing duty free fruits from Iran and Turkey under the garb of Afghan fruits.

Raising the border force will resolve the issue of shortage of human resource for Customs Operations, therefore the matter of approval of 2000 personnel by PM’s Office may be expedited.