FBR working on extension of EFS to whole textile value chain: chief collector

Lahore: Punjab’s Chief Collector Customs (Appraisement) Muhammad Sadiq has said that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is working on extension of Export Facilitation Scheme (EFS) to the whole textile value chain.

Talking to members of APTMA [All Pakistan Textile Mills Association] during an interactive session on exports and other Customs related issues here on Wednesday, he said that a committee of stakeholders had already been constituted in this regard. Ms. Azmat Tahira, Collector Customs (Appraisement-East) Lahore, Ms. Nazia Saleem, Additional Collector Customs, and Ms. Irum Sohail, Additional Collector Customs also accompanied the Chief Collector, while APTMA (North) Chairman Kamran Arshad, senior members Anjum Zafar, Faisal Pervez and APTMA Secretary General Raza Baqir were also present.

The Chief Collector Customs assured APTMA of removing all irritants in the EFS and other customs procedures, formalities to facilitate exporters by helping them in focusing on how to boost exports.

Talking high of the importance of exports in general and textile industry in particular, he said no stone would be left  unturned in facilitating textile industry for promotion of exports.

He assured of resolving all systems related issues with removal of irritants in the scheme. According to him, most of the demands raised by the APTMA are genuine, which need to be addressed to facilitate exports of the country.

“There is a need to moderate Valuation Rulings,” he said and assured of looking into it on priority. In his welcome address, Kamran Arshad pointed out that unconsumed raw materials imported under the previous schemes are still not reflected in the EFS system, which are  needed to be loaded immediately. He added that audits are pending for a long period, delaying release of PDCs/Guarantees as well as costing financially to exporters and getting new quotas.

According to him, a large number of CRF have since long been pending, which is hindering smooth functioning of the EFS. He said that deduction of taxes and duties is still being reflected at statutory rate instead of effective rates despites specific rulings by FBR, which needs to be corrected. He proposed that both IORs and Analysis certificates should be issued automatically by the Collectorates on the basis of ratios determined in Textile Notes.

He pointed out that the consignments of indirect exporters being cleared manually in the past should be uploaded in the system to avoid any audit / reconciliation issues. Despite fully automated EFS procedures, he said, a parallel duplicate manual system is being run causing delays and adding to costs. Manual submission of documents should be stopped immediately, he stressed.

The chairman said that valuation rulings are being unlawfully applied on EFS and exports, which are creating delays and required to be done away with.He said the EFS facility is granted for 3 to 5 years, while the PSW ID expires every two years.

It is a need of the hour  to align the expiration of the PSW ID with the corresponding period of EFS. He said, the WEBOC module does not entail any option of sale/purchase return of local invoices, which should be corrected.