ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the process of export and import would be made easier for the business community with the Pakistan Single Window (PSW) Act, 2021. Through integrating 75 regulatory departments, the act would allow the country to save $500m annually, the premier added.
In February, Pakistan introduced a pre-arrival clearance for imported cargo coming through the air route, which reduced clearance time and improved supply chain management while also increasing the ease of doing business.
Through this policy, the Customs Department receives the details of imports electronically as the goods leave for PAksiatn from their respective destination. By the time the goods arrive in Pakistan, the department has already processed the request and granted approval. The new project launched by the Customs department is called “Clearance in Sky”. After this, a message is sent to the importers of the goods that can be shown to claim the cargo from the authorities.
The system can also be used to track the status of the cargo and the exact position of goods and the period of time after which they will be ready for physical delivery at airports.
During the pilot trials of the system in December 2020, goods such as lifesaving drugs, documents like passports, human organ consignments and perishable items including vegetables and fruits were cleared successfully.
“At present, we are clearing import cargo of 12 commercial importers, manufacturers and exporters in the textile and pharmaceutical sectors of Pakistan,” Additional Collector of Customs Farah Farooq, who is heading the pilot project, told the media.
