https://arab.news/wg9xx
- Instruction comes as the government seeks to focus on export-led economic growth
- Pakistan already using AI-based scanner checks to shorten customs clearance times
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday directed authorities to ensure greater efficiency at Pakistani ports for quicker cargo handling and delivery, issuing the instruction at a review meeting on the working of the faceless customs inspection and valuation system, according to an official statement.
Pakistan has been pushing for export-led growth after stabilizing an economy that edged toward default in 2023, drawing support from close allies and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
With macroeconomic indicators improving following IMF-recommended structural reforms, the government is seeking to expand trade, offer landlocked Central Asian states access to southern ports at Karachi and Gwadar and upgrade port facilities through greater use of technology to mirror international best practices.
“The aim of improving and modernizing the customs system is to facilitate businesses engaged in exports and imports and to increase national revenue,” he was quoted as saying during the meeting.
“The administrative time required for customs inspection and valuation should be reduced to the minimum,” Sharif added. “With rising cargo volumes at ports, plan in an organized manner so that goods move from the docks to their destinations as quickly as possible.”
The prime minister ordered that the customs inspection and valuation regime must ensure transparency and that all relevant agencies work in concert under a coordinated strategy for effective implementation.
He directed that appeals against customs valuations be heard by neutral officers and that immediate steps be taken to make the appeal system more transparent.
Officials briefed the meeting that work is underway to make the inspection and valuation system identity-blind, and that an artificial-intelligence-based risk-management system will be activated soon.
Increased use of AI in scanner-based checks is already cutting clearance times, they said, while stepped-up anti-smuggling operations have reduced illicit flows and lifted the number of consignments cleared through formal channels.