President Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry concerned over enhanced examination of imported containers

Karachi, November 27, 2014 (PPI-OT): President of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), Iftikhar Ahmed Vohra, while expressing deep concern over the Custom authorities unjust decision to put 80 percent of imported containers on examination, urged the high-ups in Islamabad to take notice of the situation as it was causing severe losses to the importers on account of demurrage and detention charges due to delays in clearance of hundreds containers.

In a statement issued, President KCCI said that they have been receiving complaints from KCCI members who import large quantities of various commodities and chemicals etc. but they are facing serious issues in clearance of cargo due to enhanced examination of imported goods and the delays being caused due to insufficient capacity of testing labs.

Iftikhar Vohra opined that more than 80 percent of all containers have been put on hold and will only be released after examination, which was causing serious problems due to limited capacity of ports and the time required for such process can take many weeks, causing severe port congestion.

He further advised the Import Collectorates of East, West and Port Qasim that instead of sending same consignment of same origin again and again for laboratory testing, the concerned authority should create profiles of such consignments and issue laboratory testing certificates of same imported goods of same origin for a period of at least six months.

During this period, all imported consignments of same origin which have already been tested, should be excluded from the examination procedure which would surely help in dealing with port congestion issue and save the importers from suffering losses due to demurrage and detention, he added.

President KCCI, while underscoring the need to devise urgent and effective measures for addressing this issue, asked the concerned authorities to devise a clear strategy for timely clearance of imported goods held up at all ports in order to prevent further losses to importers and shortage of imported stuff in the markets.

For more information, contact:
Aamir Hassan
Director Press/Electronic Media and Public Relations
Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI)
Aiwan-e-Tijarat Road, Off Shahrah-e-Liaquat,
Karachi-74000
Phone: +92-21-99218001-09
Fax: +92-21-99218040
Email: info@kcci.com.pk, secretary@kcci.com.pk
Website: www.kcci.com.pk