MULTAN : Syed Muhammad Asim Shah, Chairman All Pakistan Bed Sheet and Upholstery Manufacturers Association( APBUMA) said that Federal Government's revenue board was dealing with Multan step-motherly and it had shifted appraisal powers of customs department to Faisalabad Customs Collectorate adding to the miseries exporters, importers of South Punjab and now the industrial units and traders in South Punjab are facing immense problems. The chairman of the association said that some years ago, due to unknown reasons, the affairs of Customs Appraisal Multan were placed under the Chief Collector Customs Faisalabad. One has to travel to Faisalabad for resolving his problems , which not only incurs the burden of unnecessary travel expenses but also leads to disruption in exports and production process due to loss of valuable time. He said that there are vast opportunities for exports in this region but some policy issues are a big obstacle in this way. Export Facilitation Scheme 2021 has been launched to give exemptions in taxes and various duties. For registration under this scheme, exporters can submit an application to their respective Customs Collectorate . But since Multan Appraisals are the subject of Faisalabad, the application is submitted there. Since the registration process is complicated, one inevitably has to appear at Faisalabad Customs repeatedly to provide various documents and clarify matters. This process has become a boon for exporters in Multan. And sometimes due to the non-availability of the relevant customs officials apart from the travel expenses and loss of time, the pending cases are unnecessarily prolonged. Explaining these problems, he said that on the one hand, the customs affairs have been shifted to Upper Punjab, while on the other hand, due to the infrastructure cess imposed by Mr. Provinces, the capacity of the only dry port of South Punjab is limited. There are mills.
Chairman APBUMA said that export industry all over the world gets special attention and facilities in supply chain are provided at DOORSTEP. So that by reducing the cost domestic products can be marketed in the world at competitive rates but as mentioned the problems are not only increasing the cost of doing business but also discouraging the industry and trade in the region.he said. Muhammad Asim Shah requested the Minister of Commerce and the responsible government representatives that in the light of the stated problems, all customs operations should be immediately restored in Multan so that the industry and trade in South Punjab can get a boost and at the time of the problems. Regional development can be built on a sustainable basis through redressal. He said that APBUMA is ready to cooperate with the government in all ways in this regard because the country's economic survival is conditioned by the promotion of exports.
