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While the imbroglio surrounding one of the country’s biggest scam of missing containers is yet to be resolved, another 785 boxes belonging to Afghan Transit Trade have gone missing. They were not de-sealed at the customs border check posts during 2011.
This raises a big question mark about the performance of the customs authorities because disappearance of boxes from computer screen at any stage raises controversies, difficult to be substantiated when it comes to investigation or litigation.
However, customs authorities could not be exonerated from the responsibility of the missing containers if unscrupulous elements take advantage of the weak or defective customs clearance and logistic systems.
It is feared that apart from non-state actors, spy agencies of the so-called friendly states involved in war against terrorism in the region, might have taken advantage of the weak customs surveillance.
Incidentally, almost all official findings concentrated on the number game rather than looking for the causes resulting in huge revenue loss and security lapses.
So far there has been no clear cut outcome of all the probes and findings by different bodies including Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO). The FBR also carried out many internal probes but all have contradictory findings. In some places they even negated each other factually and mathematically.
None of these investigation reports suggest how to control future pilferage of ATT and NATO/Isaf containers. Most of these reports only concentrate on time-line and number of missing containers related to different years.
According to the FTO findings submitted to the Supreme Court of Pakistan, it was not possible for ATT containers to complete a round trip from Karachi to Torkhum or Chaman and back to Karachi in eight days. Based on these criteria, the FTO reported that during the period from January 1, 2007 to October 15, 2010, as many as 7,922 containers had completed the said round trip in eight or less than eight days.
The FTO concluded that the imported goods never crossed Pakistan-Afghan border and were pilfered within Pakistan. The revenue loss on these 7,922 containers as estimated by the FTO was worth Rs19 billion. Based on the benchmark of ten days haulage period the number of missing containers, the FTO stated in its report, worked out to be 15,314 and the revenue loss at around Rs37 billion.
The FBR also constituted an internal probe committee to conduct inquiries and investigations to determine the criminal prosecutions and departmental action where warranted.
In one of its reports, the FBR probe committee, after various inquiries and confirmations, concluded that 28,802 commercial ATT containers and 3,544 non-commercial containers have been identified regarding whose crossing the Pakistan-Afghan border could not be established and were prima facie pilfered or smuggled en-route. The estimated revenue loss on these containers was put at Rs55 billion.
It is alarming that the FBR’s probe committee also identified 3,544 containers belonging to NATO and ISAF as missing.
Some insiders in the FBR allege that the objective of the committee members was more to getting a reward or honoraria payment through exaggeration of figures of missing containers rather than reaching to findings that could help stop pilferage of containers.
In yet another report compiled by the internal probe committee of the FBR it was mentioned that at least 50,000 containers are outstanding on the computer screens of some dry ports including Peshawar. The report admitted that these containers also include those which were meant for transit to Afghanistan. It suggested that tough audit and reconciliation should be carried out as huge amount of revenue was involved.
Interestingly the FBR probe committee also admits that no proper reconciliation of containers being transshipped upcountry is being done. Therefore, thousands of containers are still pending for verification because the same are outstanding on the computer screens of the upcountry dry ports. There is also no confirmation about the gate-in of these containers at the dry ports.
The FBR’s internal reports also indicate the possibility of smuggling of arms and ammunition through a large number of missing containers.
Interestingly, the head of the probe committee influenced the field officers to uphold higher number of missing boxes, and directed them to issue show cause notices in case of 17,052 containers.
However, some of the customs field officers did not rely upon the computer data. In another case, one of the Karachi collectorate, in reply to the probe committee’s query, stated that the acknowledgement and de-sealing record of the Peshawar collectorate revealed that out of 14,419 boxes only 2,872 containers did not appear in the online data.
The balance of 11,547 containers had either been acknowledged or de-sealed by the Peshawar collectorate as appeared in the Pakistan Revenue Automation Ltd (PRAL) system.
The entire system seems to be in a mess. As a matter of fact when a container is loaded on a ship its contents along with manifest of the ship through computer connectivity reaches the port of destination well before the ship reports.
The moment a gantry crane touches a container to unload it, the weight, contents etc., appear on computer screen and allow customs officials to know every detail for imposing duty and taxes.
The world over a tracking system is being used to keep an eye on the movement of transit cargo or containers and ensure that they reach the exit point without deviation or any other malpractice.
However, many containers on way to Pakistan-Afghan border are being de-stuffed and after changing contents move onward to check posts causing millions of rupees revenue loss.
There are scanners on all container terminals of the ports but they are not being used by customs officials for reasons best known to them.
It is high time that the FBR and security agencies to wake up and put such system in place at the earliest for all category of transit cargo including ATT, Nato and Isaf.
