SRO 61(I)/1994

GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN CENTRAL BOARD OF REVENUE NOTIFICATION Islamabad, the 22nd January, 1994 CUSTOMS S.R.O.61(I)/94.- In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (4) of section 79 of the Customs Act, 1969 (IV of 1969), read with section 219 thereof, the Central Board of Revenue is pleased to maike the following rules, namely:- 1. Short title and commencement.- (1) These rules may be called the Prior Release of Urgent Consignments (Imports and Exports) Rules, 1994. (2) They shall come into force at once. 2. Definitions.- (1) In these rules, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,- (i) "Act" means the Customs Act, 1969 (IV of 1969); (ii) "application" means an application filed under rule 3 of these rules; (iii) "appropriate officer" means an officer of Customs not below the rank of an Assistant Collector appointed in this behalf; (iv) "duties" means customs-duties and include all other levies collected in the same manner as customs-duty; (v) "prior release" means the delivery of an urgent consignment prior to submission of a bill of entry or a bill of export under the Act; and (vi) "urgent consignment" means a consignment of any of the following goods imported for home consumption, or meant for export provided that the appropriate officer of Customs is satisfied that these require immediate and rapid clearance as a matter of priority:- (a) human body organs or any part thereof, blood and blood plasma; (b) perishable medicines e.g., insulin, etc; (c) life saving drugs in nominal quantities, duly supported by medical prescription; (d) live animals and live plants; (e) newspapers, journals and other news materials; (f) radioactive materials; (g) replacement parts of computers, machines and drilling equipment (e.g. drilling bits); (h) Any other goods, urgently required, with the approval of the Collector of Customs in writing, on case to case basis; and (i) Fertilizer imported by Fertilizer Import Department, Ministry of Food and Agriculture. (2) All other expressions used but not defined in these rules shall have the same meaning as are assigned to them in the Act. 3. Application for prior release.- (1) The importer or exporter of urgent consignment shall present an application, in triplicate, in the form set out in appendix I to the appropriate officer. (2) The appropriate officer shall cause the application to be scrutinized with reference to declarations made in the application, by taking into account the degree of urgency with which the goods are needed, the nature and value of consignment and particular circumstances relating to it. (3) The appropriate officer shall, after satisfying himself in this regard, accept the application for prior release by making an endorsement to this effect on all the three copies of the application. (4) After the application for prior release is accepted by the appropriate officer, the particulars of the consignment shall be entered in a register, in the form set out at Appendix II maintained for this purpose, and the serial number of the register shall be taken an prior release number. (5) The prior release number and date shall be endorsed on all copies of the application and the prior release shall be deemed to have been allowed only after the entries in the register and endorsement of the application have been recorded. 4. Admissibility of prior release.- (1) Prior release shall not be admissible in cases where Import General Manifest or Export General Manifest, as the case may be, was filed two days or more prior to the submission of application for grant of prior release. (2) The facility of prior release shall be allowed to only those importers or exporters of urgent consignments who have sufficient balance of amount available in their accounts maintained as current/personal ledger accounts to pay the duties: Provided that the importers or exporters, who are not maintaining such accounts shall be eligible to avail the facility of prior release on furnishing a bank guarantee or a pay order of a sum equivalent to the duties assessed provisionally by the proper officer and such pay order shall remain in the custody of the proper officer of Customs and shall be utilized towards finalization of assessment. (3) Bank guarantee shall stand discharged after all leviable duties and taxes have been deposited. (4) No prior release shall be allowed if a previous case of the same importer or exporter is pending finalization for more than fifteen days. 5. Manner of prior release in case of imported goods.- (1) A file for each application shall be maintained and shall contain all relevant documents and correspondence relating to the respective clearance. (2) The examination staff, deputed for the purpose, shall examine the urgent consignment on priority and in compliance with the examination order and examination report shall be recorded on reverse of the original application. (3) The examining officer, if he is satisfied that the import of the goods is not prohibited or is not in breach of any restrictions or conditions applicable to the import of such goods, may make an order for provisional clearance of the same pending presentation of bill of entry. (4) The examination staff shall also endorse the original and duplicate copies of application with the words "examined", affix their signatures and shall return the duplicate to the importer. (5) At the time of delivery of urgent consignment, the officer of Customs shall record the effect of delivery under his signatures on original and duplicate copies of the application. The original copy of the application shall be retained by such officer and forwarded at the earliest to the appropriate officer while the duplicate copy of the application shall be returned to the importer to accompany the urgent consignment, and for his record. (6) The importer of urgent consignment shall, at the time of the prior release of such goods, present a bill of entry for home consumption and other necessary documents to the appropriate officer of Customs and shall pay the whole or differential amount of leviable duties, if any, within ten days of the prior release on the basis of which the appropriate officer of Customs shall finalize the provisional assessment. 6. Manner of prior release in case of exported goods.- (1) A file for each application shall be maintained and shall contain all relevant documents and correspondence relating to respective clearance. (2) The examination staff, deputed for the purpose, shall examine the urgent consignment on priority in compliance with the examination order and examination report shall be recorded on the original application. (3) The examining officer, having verified that the export of the goods is not prohibited or is not in breach of any restrictions or conditions applicable to the export of such goods, may make an order for provisional clearance of the same pending presentation of bill of export. (4) The examination staff shall also endorse the original and duplicate copies of application with the words "examined", affix their signatures and shall return them to the exporter. (5) At the time of loading, the proper officer of Customs shall record the effect of loading, under his signatures, on the original and duplicate copies of the application. The original copy of application shall be retained by such officer and shall be forwarded at the earliest to the appropriate officer while the duplicate copy of application shall be returned to the exporter for his record. (6) The exporter of urgent consignment shall, at the time of prior release of such goods, present a bill of export and other necessary documents to the appropriate officer of Customs and shall pay the whole or differential amount of leviable duties, if any, within ten days of the prior release on the basis of which the appropriate officer of Customs shall finalize the provisional assessment. 7. Failure to comply.- In case an importer or exporter of an urgent consignment contravenes any of the provisions of these rules, penal proceedings under the Act shall be initiated by the appropriate officer and duties, if due, shall be recovered under the relevant provisions of the Act and the defaulter shall not be entitled for the facility of prior release, any more, in future. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (C.No.1(182)-CB/76-Part-9/94) BARKAT ALI BUKHARI Second Secretary As amended S.R.O.504(I)/95, - dated 14.06.1995 S.R.O.22(I)/97, - dated 12.01.1997 S.R.O.179(I)/97, - dated 21.03.1997 Appendix I FORM [See rule 3(1)] The Assistant Collector of Customs, SUBJECT: APPLICATION FOR PRIOR RELEASE OR URGENT CONSIGNMENT. Dear Sir, I request for prior release of the goods as per the following particulars:- 1. Flight No./name of the vessel. 2. Date of arrival/departure ETA.(in case already arrived quota IGM No. and date and Index No.) 3. Airway bill/bill of lading number and date. 4. Consignor's name and address. 5. Consignee’s name and address. NTN/NIC. 6. Nature of import/export(specify whether commercial, sample, gift, donation, personal mail or other). 7. Import license/import permit/clearance permit No. and date. 8. Import/Export registration No. and date or NIC No.(in case of import/export by individual). 9. Letter of credit No. and date with Bank and Branch No. Form E.No. in case of exports. 10. Amount of freight (if prepaid). 11. Delivery order No. and date if any (in the absence of delivery order, attach the telex or other documents through which intimation of arrival was received). 12. Description of goods, etc. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S.No. Description Quantity/ Weight HS code C&F/ Rate of Amount of Sales Tax Iqra Flood Other Remarks of goods. No. of Gross/ FOB customs customs @ 15% surcharge Relief Taxes packages Net Value duty duty @ 5% Surcharge if any @ 1% -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13. If the goods require any certificate/clearance from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Ministry of Health, Plant Quarantine Department/Animal Husbandry Department or any on the concerned agency for their importation/exportation, No. and date of such certificate and attach a copy thereof. 14. Name, address, national identity card No. and Customs permit No. of the person authorized to transact this business on behalf of the importer. 15. How many cases of prior release effected one week earlier or longer period are still outstanding against the importer and/or the clearing agent. 16. The position of balance amount available in the deposit account(for commercial importer only). 17. No. date and the amount of bank guarantee or pay order. 18. Reasons and justifications warranting prior release. (Please attach documents to prove urgency leading to this request), if any. Documents Attached: 1. Signature. 2. Name. 3. Designation. 4. Full address. 5. Tel No. Office. 6. Clearing agent license No. and date. 19. REPORT OF THE CUSTODIAN ABOUT DECLARATION IN COLUMN NO.17 ABOVE. 20. ORDER OF THE ASSISTANT COLLECTOR OF CUSTOMS. 21. P.R.REQN. NO. AND DATE. 22. EXAMINATION AND ASSESSMENT REPORT. 23. ORDER OF THE PRINCIPAL APPRAISER/SUPERINTENDENT OUT OF CHARGE/ALLOWED/NOT ALLOWED. Appendix II FORM [See rule 3(4)] S.No. Date of Description Quantity Name of importer/ Name of clearing agent Weight application of goods Exporter Gross Net --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Amount of duties involved Bill of entry/ Date of filing IGM No. Index No. ---------------------------------------------------------- shipping Bill of entry Customs Sales Iqra Regul- Flood Fine Bill No. duty tax surcharge tory duty Relief etc. Shipping Bill surcharge No. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Amount of duties realized ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Customs duty Sales Tax Iqra surcharge Regulatory duty Flood Relief Other Taxes/Fine @ 1% Surcharge etc ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19 20 21 22 23 24 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------