Agreement reached in Pakistan leather garment deadlock
Mr. Fawad Ijaz Khan, chairman of the Pakistan Leather Garment Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PLGMEA) has applauded the decision by Mr. Ramzan Bhatti, Member Customs - Central Board of Revenue (CBR), to release shipping bills that had been detained due to weight discrepancies.
Mr Fawad had previously appraised Mr. Ramzan that several members of PLGMEA (Southern Zone) had had the fourth copies of their bills detained by the authorities, due to differences between the weights declared on their bills and the weights of the shipments themselves. The Customs authorities have accepted a variance of 20% as opposed to the 5% margin originally imposed. However, they had also chosen to delay the processing of PLGMEA member Duty Drawback claims while the issue was being looked into.
Mr Fawad said the weight difference were explained by the fact that leather garment exporters had always traditionally estimated weight of their consignments, and this made difficult when the consignment was made up of different styles of garments and different types of leather, hence the confusion. He also respectfully pointed out that the issue had nothing to do with the payment of Duty Drawback claims.
In response, and as a one-off gesture, Mr Ramzan agreed to the release of the bills. However, he said that exporters would in future need to ensure that their bills tallied with the actual weight of each shipment. Estimates would no longer suffice, he warned.
