Amendment in Customs Agents Licensing Rules (Chapter VIII) of Customs Rules, 2001
Government of Pakistan
Revenue Division
Federal Board of Revenue
NOTIFICATION
Islamabad, the 16th November, 2022.
2047(I)/2022.- In exercise of the powers conferred by section
219 of the Customs Act, 1969 (IV of 1969), section 50 of the Sales Tax
Act, 1990, section 40 of the Federal Excise Act, 2005 and section 237 of
the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 (XLIX of 2001), the Federal Board of
Revenue is pleased to direct that the following further amendments shall
be made in the Customs Rules, 2001, which, as required under sub-section
(3A) of the said section 219, were previously published vide Notification
No.S.R.0 1764(1)/2021, dated the 20th day of September, 2022, namely:-
In the aforesaid Rules,-
(1) in rule 90,
in clause (b), after the word 'customs", occurring for
the fourth time, the expression "(including Pakistan
Single Window)" shall be inserted; and
after clause (f), the following new clause shall be
inserted, namely:-
"(g)"self clearance" means where a person or his
employee or his authorized representative
transacts customs business without using a
customs agent under sub-section (2) of section 208
read with section 155C of the Customs Act, 1969
(IV of 1969).";
(2) in rule 91,-
for the word "two", the word "five" shall be substituted;
and
in clause (d), for full stop at the end, a semi colon shall
be substituted and thereafter the following new clause
shall be added, namely:-
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"(e) a current valid bank statement from a scheduled
bank in Pakistan;";
in rule 92, in clause (e), for full stop at the end, a semi colon
shall be substituted and thereafter the following new clause (f)
shall be added, namely:-
"(f) sound financial record, duly verified by a bank;";
for rule 93, the following shall be substituted, namely:-
"93. Qualification test.- (1) The licensing authority
shall put in place a mechanism to scrutinize the applications
received and shortlist the eligible candidates. The list of
eligible candidates shall be forwarded to Pakistan Customs
Academy (PCA) to arrange a qualification test with a view to
ascertain the knowledge of the applicants in the Customs law,
rules and procedures and computer literacy. A simulation test
shall also be conducted to ascertain the aptitude of the
applicant for Web Based One Customs (WeBOC) and
Pakistan Single Window (PSW).
The examination shall be conducted, at least
once a year, by the PCA at Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad,
Quetta and Peshawar. Each applicant shall deposit fee of ten
thousand rupees, for examination-related expenses in the
respective account of the Director General Pakistan Customs
Academy (PCA). Further logistics support shall be provided
by the Enforcement Collectorates of the respective center of
examination.
The applicants shall be required to pass the
qualification test in three chances failing which applicant shall
not be eligible to avail the test:
Provided that if the applicant is a retired officer of
Customs of BS-16 or above having more than ten years
service and subject to condition that he has not been removed
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from the service on disciplinary grounds or dismissed from
service, he may be exempted by the licensing authority from
the above mentioned test on case to case basis after
conducting his interview:
Provided further that a person who has been a partner
or director in license for a period not less than ten years with
a reputable licensee and have a sound financial background
with no conviction and duly authorized by the respective
customs agent association, may be exempted by the licensing
authority from the above mentioned test on case to case basis
after conducting his interview.
The applicants having provisional licence shall
also appear in the aforesaid examination and if they fail to
qualify the test in three chances, their licence shall be
cancelled.
The licensing authority shall not consider an
application for the grant of licence, if the applicant fails to
secure at least fifty percent aggregate marks alongwith forty
percent marks in each subject in the written examination:
in rule 94,-
(5)
(i) in clause (a),-
for the word "three" the word "five" shall be
substituted; and
for the word "seven", the word "ten" shall be
substituted; and
(ii) in clause (b), for full stop at the end, a colon shall be
substituted and thereafter the following proviso shall be
added, namely:-
"Provided that form B shall be linked with
Customs computerized systems, for generation of
automated reminder for renewal.";
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(6) in rule 95,-
after sub-rule (3), the following new sub-rule shall be
inserted, namely:-
"(3A) Subject to fulfillment of the
conditions provided for eligibility of applicant in rule
92, change of status of firm from proprietorship or
partnership to company shall be allowed on submission
of registration certificate with Securities and Exchange
Commission of Pakistan (SECP) under the Companies
Act, 2017 (XIX of 2017), and on successful passing of
interview to be conducted by the licensing authority or
any officer authorized in this behalf";
in sub-rule (4), for full stop at the end, a colon shall be
substituted and thereafter the following proviso shall be
added, namely:-
"Provided that the financial guarantees shall be
updated as per prevailing legal conditions."; and
for sub-rule (7), the following shall be substituted,
namely:-
"(7) The applicant shall provide sales tax
registration certificate prior to issuance of licence or
shall upload into the system against a checkbox.";
(7) after sub-rule (10), the following new rule shall be inserted,
namely:-
"(10A) A smart card shall be issued in substitution of
existing licence booklet, having all the following requisite
information, namely:-
licence holder name with photograph;
licence type partnership, proprietorship,
Association of Persons (AOP) or company;
issuance and expiry date;
ID card number;
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(e) NTN of the licensee; and
(f) Chal number and name of firm.";
(8) in rule 96,-
(i) in sub-rule (1), for clauses (c) and (d), the following shall
be substituted, namely:-
"(c) proof of payment of renewal fee at a rate of two
thousand rupees per year for renewal of license
for two years or five years, as the case may be;
and
(d) certificate of participation. once in every two
years in mandatory refresher course from
Pakistan Customs Academy (PCA)."; and
(ii) in sub-rule (2), for clause (d), the following shall be
substituted, namely:-
"(d) the licensee's profile based on previous
performance has not been satisfactory; or";
(9) in rule 98,-
in sub-rule (4), after the expression "form "G", the words
"carrying a barcode" shall be inserted; and
after sub-rule (4), amended as aforesaid, the following
new sub-rule shall be added, namely:
"(4A) The barcode shall be registered with the back-
end of the system.";
(10) in rule 99, in sub-rule (1),-
for the expressions "Directorate-General of Training
and Research (Customs)" and "Directorate-General",
wherever occurring, the expression "Pakistan Customs
Academy" shall be substituted; and
for the words "three and a half', the word "six" shall
,
be substituted;
(11) in rule 100, after sub-rule (2), the following new sub-rule shall
be added, namely:-
"(3) Separate folders for record maintenance shall be
available to the licensee in the system for data storage.";
(12) in rule 101,-
clause (q) shall be omitted; and
in clause (r), after semi colon, the word "and" shall be
added and thereafter the following new clause shall be
added, namely:-
"(s) in case of self-clearance the principal shall apply
for transaction based or entity based approval by
the licensing authority or a designated officer not
below the rank of Assistant Collector, by
declaring the names and particulars of his
employee or representatives authorized by him
in this regard."; and
(13) in rule 102, after sub-rule (4), the following new sub-rule,
shall be added, namely:-
"(5) Order-in-original passed by the adjudicating
authority shall automatically be uploaded in the WeBOC
system and be linked with the licensee's profile.".
[C. No.1(7)L&P/2006(P01
( Riaz Hussain)
Secretary (Law & Procedure)