ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and Iran Customs on Mondaysigned a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Electronic Exchange of Data.
The signing ceremony was chaired by Member (Customs-Policy/Operation), FBRMuhammad Javed Ghani, and subsequently presided over by the actingChairperson, FBR, Nausheen Javaid Amjad, said a press release issued here.
The background of the achievement of this milestone is that Customs MutualAssistance Agreement was signed between the Government of the IslamicRepublic of Iran and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on March 04, 2004.
In light of the said agreement, it was felt imperative by FBR to makeprogress on a number of important areas for protecting economic interestsof Pakistan involved in bilateral trade between Iran and Pakistan.
Under the agreement, it was decided to finalize of the MoU on ElectronicData Exchange between Pakistan Customs and Iran Customs.
It was also emphasized to exchange values or documents on real time basisin case of the goods to be imported or exported and to roll-out a fullyautomated clearance system having advance information about goods andpassengers at Taftan – Mirjaveh Border stations (as a pilot project) and atother border stations in a phased manner.
To this effect, the Iranian customs authorities were approached andmeetings were held on February 18-20, 2019 and October 16-17, 2019.
In the last meeting, on October 16-17, 2019 milestones were achieved andconsensus was developed on the areas as listed in above Para.
In furtherance of the subject matter, the Islamic Republic of Iran CustomsAdministration (IRICA) nominated, the Director General of InformationTechnology Department Mrs. Haideh Bagheripour to come over to Pakistan forsigning the MoU on behalf of her Customs Administration.
While welcoming the distinguished guests from Iran Customs, theChairperson, FBR, Nausheen Javaid Amjad stated that implementation of thisMoU will have a number of benefits for both Iran Customs and Federal Boardof Revenue such as availability of advance information about values,descriptions and quality of the goods to be imported into Pakistan fromIran and reduced costs on clearance of goods at the borders. Moreover,accurate valuation of the imported goods will lead to realization ofgreater revenues, she said.
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Member (Customs-Policy), Muhammad Javed Ghani, while speaking on theoccasion, warmly welcomed the esteemed guests from Iran Customs on theirvisit to Pakistan.
He said the proposed cooperation through the Memorandum of Understandingwould go a long way in fostering a long-term relationship between bothcustoms administrations and would enable them to successfully cope with thechallenges that they were facing.
According to him, implementation of this MoU would ensure optimum tradefacilitation through quick examination /assessment of the imported goodsand more transparency and lesser human interface.
He assured Iran customs of full cooperation from Pakistan Customs on anyarea pertaining to mutual assistance and collaboration.
Ambassador of Iran in Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Hosseini, was also present onthe occasion.
He has conveyed felicitations to all the present officers of Federal Boardof Revenue and appreciated both customs administrations for workinguntiringly to reach the consensus on the provisions of MoU and, finally,converging to sign it.
He expressed his pleasure over the fact that there were a number ofimportant areas wherein both customs administrations could work together inthe best interests of Iran and Pakistan.
After signing of MoU, the instrument was exchanged between relevantofficers of Iran Customs and Federal Board of Revenue.
