Karachi: The dispute between the customs department and customs agents over the suspension of 45 licenses after manipulation of the faceless assessment system has intensified.
Chairman of the All Pakistan Customs Agents Association, Saifullah Khan, has written a letter to the chambers of commerce across the country, including the FPCCI, regarding the closure of import and export clearance.
The All Pakistan Customs Agents Association has informed all the associations, including the Karachi Chamber, Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce, Islamabad and Lahore Chamber of Commerce, Rawalpindi Chamber, APTMA, and Pakistan Chemical Dyes Merchants Association, through a letter, to inform their members to manage their own export and import clearance work.
The letter states that after 15 days, the customs agents will stop exporting and importing, the letter states that the customs authorities have illegally suspended the licenses of 45 of our agents.
The suspension of the customs agents is based on the actions of some customs appraising officers, the letter states that the customs appraisers are contacting our agents and demanding bribes in exchange for clearing the goods.
The letter states that the behavior of the customs officers with the clearing agents has been unprofessional, uncivilized and detrimental to our work, so we are left with no other option but to close our business.
