Federal Board of Revenue has reaffirmed its commitment to Faceless Customs Assessment, clarifying that the relocation of the Central Appraising Unit to Islamabad is the next phase of customs modernisation and will not be reversed. The initiative is guided by the aim of reducing discretionary powers, limiting direct interaction between traders and customs officials, and making assessment decisions through a transparent, system driven process. The board stressed that only the assessment function will move to Islamabad, while all other functions will remain with the collectorate of jurisdiction, physical examination and port operations will continue in Karachi, and traders can still approach their respective Karachi collectorates to resolve issues.
The clarification came in response to concerns raised by All Pakistan Textile Mills Association about clearance delays, valuation disputes, and laboratory referrals. Federal Board of Revenue said the performance figures cited in the association’s representation largely relate to the first months of implementation and do not reflect later improvements. According to the board, average customs clearance time has fallen from 40.2 hours to 20.57 hours, and 83 percent of consignments are now cleared within 48 hours. It added that customs valuation continues to be governed by Section 25 of the Customs Act, 1969, that digital assessment does not allow arbitrary increases in declared values, and that officers must follow the prescribed valuation methods and record reasons wherever required. Electronic documentation, specialist consultation, and digital coordination are expected to raise the quality of assessments while cutting unnecessary personal contact.
To address genuine bottlenecks, the board plans targeted measures that include dedicated backlog clearance arrangements for consignments under the export facilitation scheme and other export oriented shipments, along with green channel facilitation for Authorised Economic Operators and compliant importers. The proposed service timelines are 24 hours for assessment and first review, 48 hours for second review, 24 hours for examination after grounding, and 72 hours for laboratory results, backed by automatic escalation if deadlines are missed. Provisional release under Section 81 of the Customs Act, 1969, will also be facilitated wherever the law allows. The board has asked trade bodies to guide their members on filing Goods Declarations before a vessel arrives, since advance filing and pre arrival processing allow eligible consignments to be assessed and cleared earlier, which lowers port dwell time and avoidable demurrage charges.
Federal Board of Revenue placed the reform within its wider digital transformation, which also includes the Digital Invoicing System and artificial intelligence based Digital Production Monitoring. These tools improve the documentation of transactions, give better visibility of industrial production and tax records, and help limit evasion, concealment of economic activity, and unfair competition, while protecting compliant businesses from preferential treatment based on personal influence. The board pointed to faceless assessment in India, TradeNet in Singapore, and Dubai Smart Customs as examples of how digital systems can ease trade while improving accountability. It has invited the textile association and other trade bodies to submit specific, verifiable cases with Goods Declaration numbers so that reported delays, valuation disputes, and classification errors can be examined and resolved, while the integrity of the faceless system is maintained.
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