The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) has urged the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to suspend further changes to the Faceless Customs Assessment (FCA) system, citing longer clearance times, rising costs and disruptions to export production.
In a letter to FBR Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial, APTMA Chairman Asad Shafi said importers continue to face arbitrary valuation increases, classification disputes, repeated examinations and laboratory referrals despite nearly 21 months of the system’s operation in Karachi.
The association said these problems have increased demurrage and detention charges, tied up working capital and disrupted export-oriented manufacturing.
APTMA cited findings attributed to an FBR review committee showing that average customs assessment time increased from 25.6 hours to 40.2 hours, while the share of consignments cleared within 48 hours fell from 84 percent to 70 percent.
The committee’s reported findings also showed that additional revenue recovered at the assessment stage declined from 16 percent to 13 percent. Review requests increased from 6 percent to 14 percent, while referrals to senior officers rose from 6 percent to 11 percent. Laboratory referrals also nearly doubled.
According to APTMA, the review committee found no improvement in assessment quality and recommended against further expansion of the system pending a review.
The association said importers face delays at multiple stages, including assessment, review, physical examination and laboratory testing. It also highlighted the rejection of declared values without adequate justification, outdated valuation rulings and inconsistent classification decisions.
Other concerns include the loss of specialist expertise in textiles, chemicals and machinery, repeated queries, poor coordination between assessment and laboratory staff, and WeBOC and Pakistan Single Window (PSW) outages that delay the clearance of consignments under the Export Finance Scheme.
APTMA also opposed moving the Central Appraising Unit (CAU) from Karachi to Islamabad, warning that relocation could further complicate customs clearance.
Karachi handles most of Pakistan’s seaborne imports and has port terminals, examination facilities, laboratories and technical personnel close to cargo operations. Moving the unit could result in the loss of experienced appraisers, weaker coordination, higher costs and further delays, the association said.
APTMA argued that the faceless assessment system could continue through random electronic allocation of cases without physically relocating the CAU.
The association urged FBR to retain the unit in Karachi and suspend further FCA expansion or major changes until an independent review is completed in consultation with industry stakeholders.
It also proposed a dedicated cell to clear pending consignments, priority processing for export-oriented imports, binding deadlines for assessments and reviews, automatic certificates for delays, and the restoration of specialist assessment desks.
Other recommendations include updating valuation rulings, improving coordination between examination and laboratory teams, and publishing monthly performance data on the FCA system.
APTMA further called for a standing review committee comprising FBR, APTMA, the Pakistan Business Council, the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and customs agents’ associations.
The proposed committee would monitor the system’s performance and address recurring problems.
APTMA said it supports FBR’s objective of establishing a transparent, efficient and fair customs system and requested an early meeting with the board’s leadership to discuss practical solutions.
