PM orders customs warehouse audit

Warns officials to face legal action in case of irregularities

ISLAMABAD:

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday directed relevant authorities to conduct a comprehensive third-party audit of customs bonded warehouses covering the last three years, warning that negligent officials and irregularities will face swift legal action.

The directives came as the prime minister chaired a review meeting on the matters of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

He said there was no room for any irregularity in customs bonded warehouses and directed that strict legal action be taken against any officials found involved in irregularities or illegal activities.

During the briefing on the matters regarding customs bonded warehouses and inland revenue enforcement, it was informed that cargo related to petroleum products in customs warehouses is linked with the Web-Based One Customs (We-BOC) system.

The participants of the meeting were told that bonded trade accounts for 16.5% of the country's total imports and that as per the prime minister's instructions, a countrywide physical stock verification of customs-bonded warehouses will be carried out.

The authorities concerned maintained that comprehensive measures were being taken to ensure the proper licensing and security of customs-bonded warehouses.

It was further staed that valuation testing will be conducted, and information technology systems will be reviewed, as all necessary steps were already being taken to eliminate irregularities in the system.

The meeting was attended by federal ministers Azam Nazeer Tarar, Ahad Khan Cheema, Musadik Malik, Muhammad Aurangzeb, Attaullah Tarar, Ali Pervaiz Malik, and Shaza Fatima, Advisor to PM Haroon Akhtar, MNA Usman Awaisi, SBP Governor Jameel Ahmad, and relevant senior government officials.