20000226

KCCI contests CBR claim about fall in customs collection

RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: Amjad Rafi, President, Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), has contested the claim of the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) in which it attributed the fall in customs revenue during January 2000, to the adaptation of GATT Code of Valuation.

In a statement issued on Friday, he said that the fact was that the GATT Code of Valuation was never adopted in letter and spirit and the present CGO 57/99 dated December 30,1999, having given effect to the system, was a distorted version of Brussels definition of value, earlier operated through ITP.

The KCCI chief recalled that the revised section 25 of the Customs Act 1969 clearly provided that the transaction value (value paid or payable) would be the touchstone for determining the value of imported items.

"At present, the value is being determined on the basis of valuation database, which is another name of ITP," he said .

The KCCI president stressed the need to immediately rectify this contradiction and to ensure the valuation in accordance with the Gatt Code of Valuation, which has been adopted since January 2000.