KARACHI, Feb 23 (APP): Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), Monday hailed the vision of the Prime Minister of Pakistan regarding his digital transformation plan to facilitate trade in Pakistan, including, the implementation of faceless assessment and the pre-arrival facility through the post-payment mechanism.
The FPCCI leadership, in a statement, reiterated whole-hearted commitment and willingness to engage in the consultative process with the authorities and government departments to ensure smooth, fair, transparent and efficient trade facilitation mechanisms in the country.
President FPCCI Atif Ikram Sheikh highlighted that majority of regulatory trade was being managed through Pakistan Single Window (PSW) and major Other Government Agencies (OGAs) have been integrated with PSW but some challenges still persist in the regulatory sphere of imports and exports as consignments were still being cleared only after mandatory inspections.
The FPCCI chief proposed that the Risk Management Systems (RMS) of the Department of Plant Protection (DPP), Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) and other relevant OGAs should be activated on the
pattern of customs.
The implementation of RMS by these government departments could further streamline import and export processes, reduce unnecessary inspections, minimize dwell time and enhance ease of doing business in Pakistan, he argued.
Senior Vice President FPCCI, Saquib Fayyaz Magoon, maintained that initially several challenges and teething problems were faced when the faceless assessment system was deployed.
However, after the posting of Chief Collector Wajid Ali and his continuous consultation with the trade and industry, a number of genuine issues have been addressed eventually, he said, adding that the faceless assessment process was now significantly benefiting trade and industry in an effective manner and the dwell time of consignments is gradually reducing as well.