The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has decided to acquire copyright of the automated cargo clearance system and a high-level delegation, led by FBR Chairman Salman Siddique, will leave for Dubai on September 11 to hold negotiations with the software developer.
Success of the talks, which would continue till September 15, hinged on the reaching of an agreement on modalities of payment to the Kuwait-based software developer, Agility, said a senior FBR official.
Over the last one year, Agility had threatened to close its system two to three times over a dispute with the FBR on payment of outstanding dues. In March, an FBR team went to Kuwait to hold negotiations with the company to resolve the issue and showed its intention to purchase the software.
According to the FBR official, the tax-collecting body has developed an alternative web-based software called Weboc for swift clearance of import cargo, which could easily replace Agility’s Pakistan Automated Computerised Clearance System (PaCCS) and is also cheap and effective. However, the new software faces hurdles.
The official said former finance minister Shaukat Tarin during his tenure had issued directives for cancelling the agreement with Agility and installing the local software, but since his resignation no progress had been made on the issue.
He said the World Bank had also expressed its reservations about continuing PaCCS and had called on the FBR to develop an alternative plan for speedy clearance of import cargo. According to him, a World Bank review mission, after comprehensively studying PaCCS, has submitted a report to the FBR which details the working of customs clearance system in the country.
The report says 64 per cent of cargo in Pakistan is cleared through PaCCS while the remaining 36 per cent goes through One Customs system.
However, the report says the installation of multiple goods clearance systems by the FBR has led to numerous problems. The FBR is utilising three different systems including PaCCS, One Customs and Weboc. The WB suggests in the report that the FBR should follow one information technology-based system for smooth cargo clearance operations and called for finalising the Weboc software by mid-October and starting a pilot project as early as possible.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 9th, 2011.
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