The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) would implement the faceless customs assessment (FCA) system from December 15 in Karachi under its transformation plan.

“The FCA is one of the key components of the FBR transformation plan, which was approved by the prime minister,” said a news release on Saturday.

All import goods declarations field after 12am in the Appraisement Collectorates of Karachi shall be allocated to the Central Appraising Unit (CAU) for assessment. The CAU was established at South Asia Pakistan Terminal Karachi a few days ago.

“The introduction of FCA is expected to bring a significant change in the overall culture and working of the Customs Department. It would facilitate trade by reducing the clearance time and would also improve efficiency and transparency in assessments,” it said.

After the completion of the first phase at Karachi, the statement added that the system would soon be rolled out at the upcountry ports and border stations and the appraisement function of Customs would be relocated outside the Customs Collectorates.

“All the arrangements have been finalised for the housing of appraisers and principal appraisers in a sanitised environment and 55 officers have already posted to the CAU,” it said.

According to the statement, the incentive-based performance management mechanism system has been introduced to enhance productivity and ensure accountability of the customs appraising officers posted in the CAU.

The eligibility criteria and licensing regime of Customs Clearing Agents have also been revamped and a points scoring system is being introduced to make them responsible for the “correct and quality declarations.”

Under the point scoring system, the Customs Agents shall score more points and improve their profile by giving true declarations of description. “On the contrary, the Customs agents who fail to show improvements in the declarations, would lose points and eventually their license may be cancelled.”