ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has made it mandatory for all government agencies integrated with the Pakistan Single Window (PSW) system to implement Post Clearance Audit (PCA) to ensure compliance with customs and other trade-related laws and regulations.
The FBR issued Pakistan Single Window Integrated Risk Management System Rules, 2023 on Monday. Under the new rules, the feedback in the light of such an audit shall be communicated to the respective GA Risk Management Committees to review and update risk rules.
In case of detection of any anomaly, irregularity, or violation through the PCA, government agencies may initiate such departmental actions against traders or, as the case may be, consignments as stipulated under their respective governing statutes.
The operating entity shall ensure that relevant data pertaining to the import, export, and transit of all goods and commodities is shared with each government agency to enable PCA cf trade transactions. The operating entity shall facilitate regular training and capacity-building initiatives on PCA for all GAs.
These rules shall apply to all government agencies that apply trade controls on import, export, and transit goods cleared through the PSW system whether through scanning or other forms of non-intrusive inspection technology, physical inspections, withdrawing of samples, detailed examinations, or documentary controls in the form of licenses, permits, certificates, and other documents in accordance with the regulatory requirements of the government agencies.
The “Integrated Risk Management System” or “IRMS” means the electronic risk management platform provided by PSW for the systematic application of trade controls, management procedures and actions to mitigate cross border trade-related risks on import/export and transit goods cleared through the PSW system in a coordinated manner.
The Governing Council shall constitute an inter-agency Risk Management Committee under sub-section (5) of section 4 of the Act for providing strategic direction, principles, policies, guidance, and oversight for the IRMS, ensure collaboration amongst government agencies for the implementation of the IRMS and review outcomes and effectiveness of risk activities and impact on compliance levels in addition to other tasks assigned by the GC. The GC Risk Management Committee shall assist the GC in addressing issues, problems, and constraints that require policy interventions by the GC.
The risk rules defined by the GA Risk Management Committee shall be in consonance with the policy guidelines issued by the GC Risk Management Committee from time to time, it said.
The operating entity shall establish a center of excellence (COE) to operate and maintain the IRMS, receive and process change requests, monitor the performance of the system, and support IRMS-related training and capacity-building initiatives. The COE shall also be responsible for extracting, analyzing, and sharing IRMS-related data and feedback with the risk management committees and other relevant stakeholders.
