Draft Amedment in the Customs Rules, 2001 - Chapter V - Customs Agents Licensing Rules
Government of Pakistan
Revenue Division
Federal Board of Revenue
Islamabad, the 15' March, 2022.
NOTIFICATION
(Customs)
S.R.O. 1t3/ (1)/2022.- The following draft of certain further
amendments in the Customs Rules, 2001, which the Federal Board of
Revenue proposes to make in exercise of the powers conferred by section
219 of the Customs Act, 1969 (IV of 1969), is hereby published for
information of all persons likely to be affected thereby and, as required
under sub-section (3A) of the said section 219, notice is hereby given that
objections or suggestions thereon, if any, may for consideration of the
Board be sent within fifteen days of publication of the draft amendments
in the official Gazette. Objections or suggestions received from any person,
before the expiry of the aforesaid period, shall be taken into consideration
by the Federal Board of Revenue, namely:-
DRAFT AMENDMENTS
In the aforesaid Rules, in Chapter VIII,-
for the heading "CUSTOMS AGENTS LICENSING", the
heading "CUSTOMS CLEARING AND FORWARDING
RULES" shall be substituted;
for rule 90, the following shall be substituted, namely:-
"90. Definitions.- In this chapter, unless there is anything
repugnant in the subject or context,-
"apprenticeship" means an arrangement under which
an applicant have learnt the requisite system knowledge
from an experienced licensee;
"applicant" means a person who has applied for
customs agent licence under "Customs Clearing and
Forwarding" Chapter VIII of Notification No.S.R.O.
450(1) 2001;
"customs agent" means a person granted a customs
agent licence by the licensing authority to carry out
customs business under these rules;
"self clearance" means a person, authorized to transact
customs business under sub-section (2) of section 208
of the Customs Act, 1969;
"customs business" means activities involving
transactions with the Customs department concerning
the entrance or clearance of any conveyance in a
customs station or area or port or any customs related
clearance activities or importation or exportation of
goods or baggage, including their classification and
valuation, the payment of duties, taxes, or other charges
assessed or collected by the Customs on goods by
reason of its importation, exportation, transit or
transshipment or refund, rebate, or drawback thereof
and includes the preparation of documents or forms in
any format and the electronic transmission of
documents, invoices, bills, or parts thereof, intended to
be filed with the Customs in furtherance of such
activities or any other activity relating to the Customs
Act, 1969 (IV of 1969) or rules made thereunder;
"CCS" means Customs Computerized System;
"form" means a form appended to this Chapter;
"KPI" means key performance indicators, defined by
the Federal Board of Revenue to ascertain the
performance of the licensee;
"licence" means a licence granted under this Chapter to
act as a customs agent;
"licensee" means a person to whom a customs agent
licence has been granted under this Chapter;
"licensing authority" means the Collector of Customs
or any officer not below the rank of Assistant Collector
authorized by Collector to act as licensing authority
under this Chapter; and
(1) "PSW" means Pakistan single window, company,
registered with SECP under section 42 of the
Companies Act, 2017, administratively controlled by
Federal Board of Revenue, Customs Department,
Government of Pakistan.";
(3) for rules 92 and 93, the following shall be substituted,
namely:-
"92. Eligibility to file application.— (1) A
candidate is eligible to file application with the licensing
authority, if he is, in case of customs agent,-
a citizen of Pakistan;
not below 21 years of age;
a graduate from a recognized university;
having adequate knowledge of computer to handle
the goods declaration (GD) in PRAL or CCS etc;
not convicted by any court of law;
sound financial record duly verified by a bank;
apprenticeship letter with an already existing and
experienced licence holder for a period not less
than six months.
(2) A candidate is eligible to file application
with the concerned Collectorate if he is, in case of self
clearance.-
a citizen of Pakistan;
a graduate from a recognized university;
Provided that, if the proprietor, director and
partner of the company is not qualifying this
condition, a graduate qualified nominee which
shall be the director, partner or a person having
served in the company for a period of not less than
05 years shall be appointed to transact the
customs business;
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having adequate knowledge of computer to
handle the goods declaration (GD) in PRAL or
CCS etc;
Not convicted by any court of law.
- Qualification test.- (1) The licensing authority
shall arrange a qualification test in coordination with
Directorate General of Training and Research (Customs) with
a view to ascertain the knowledge of the applicants in the
following fields; namely:-
Customs law, rules and procedures: 100 Marks
-- Computer literacy: 100 Marks
A simulation test shall also be 100 Marks
conducted to ascertain the aptitude
of the applicant for WeBOC and
PS W.
(2) The examination shall be conducted at Karachi,
Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta and Islamabad twice a year. The
examination can be held at any of the centers independently
as per its requirements. Each applicant shall deposit fee, for
examination-related expenses, to be determined by the
licensing authority in consultation with the Directorate
General of Training and Research (Customs). The concerned
Collectorate of Customs (Appraisement) shall provide logistic
support to the Directorate General of Training and Research
(Customs) in the conducting of examination at the respective
centers. The applicants shall pass the qualification test in three
chances failing which applicant will not be eligible to avail
the test:
Provided that if the applicant is a retired BS-16 or
above officer of Customs having more than ten years service
and subject to condition that he has not been removed from
the service on disciplinary grounds, he may be exempted by
the collector from the above mentioned test on case to case
basis after conducting his interview:
Provide further that 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.
(2) 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 of the three subjects in the written
examination:
Provided that a person holding a custom permit for a
period not less than 10 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 collector from the above mentioned test on case
to case basis after conducting his interview.
Bi-annual training of licensee based on regularly
updated modules in WeBOC [CCS] system shall be conducted.
If the licensee fails to appear on two consecutive training
modules, his/her license shall be revoked.
The licensing authority shall not consider an
application for the grant of licence, if the applicant fails to secure
at least fifty per cent aggregate marks but not less than forty per
cent marks in each of the three subjects in the examination.";
(4) in rule 94, in clause (b), for the 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 WeBOC
CCS, for generation of automated reminder for renewal.";
(5) in rule 95,-
(a) after sub-rule (3), the following new sub-rule shall be
inserted, namely:-
"(3A) Subject to the fulfillment of conditions
provided for eligibility of applicant in rule 92, change
of status of firm from partnership to company shall be
allowed on submission of registration certificate with
SECP under the Companies Act, 2017, and on
successful passing of interview to be conducted by the
licensing authority or any officer authorized in this
behalf";
(b)for sub-rule (7), the following shall be substituted,
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namely:-
"(7) The applicant shall provide sales tax
registration certificate prior to issuance of
license or shall upload into the system against a
checkbox.";
(c) after sub-rule (10), the following new sub-rule shall be
inserted, namely:-
"(11) A smart card shall be issued in substitution
of existing licence booklet, having all the following
requisite information,-
licence holder name;
licence type partnership, proprietorship or AOP;
issuance and expiry date;
ID card number; and
NTN of the licensee.";
(6)
in rule 96, after sub-rule (1), the following new sub-rule, shall
be inserted, namely:-
"(2) Renewal of licence shall be subjected to the key
performance indicators (KPI) defined by the Federal Board of
Revenue, from time to time.";
in rule 98,
(a) in sub-rule (4), after the expression "form "G", the words
"carrying a barcode" shall be inserted;
(b) after sub-rule (4), the following new sub-rule shall be
added, namely:
"(5) The barcode shall be registered with the back-
end of the system.";
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 in the system for data storage to the licensee.";
in rule 101, in clause (p), for the word "produce", the words
"assist the Customs authorities to produce" shall be
substituted; and
in rule 102, after sub-rule (4), the following new sub-rule,
shall be added, namely:-
"(5) 0.N.0 passed by the adjudicating authority shall
be automatically uploaded in the system and be linked with
the licensee profile. Licensee shall be rated on these offences
and renewal of licence shall be subjected to these ratings.".
[C. No.1(7)L&P/20061
1PcP
(Muham zwan)
Secretary (La & Procedure)
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