The department was of the view that this action would further improve consistency, transparency and uniformity in data capturing as per international standards and all field operations collectors have been guided to ensure implementation.
The department said that the World Customs Organisation (WCO) has recommended use of standard units of quantity to facilitate the collection, comparison and analysis of international statistics, based on the harmonized system of commodity description.
The standardization and harmonization of units of quantity also constitute effective measures for standardizing and facilitating the transmission of data by means of electronic data interchange.
The standard units of measurement were previously notified by the Federal Board of Revenue in the year 2012. The WCO had issued updated recommendations subsequently, but the same were not updated by the FBR in last seven years. The updated units of measurement issued vide CG015/2019 dated 13.09.2019 will facilitate legitimate trade, while eliminating discretions and data distortions in application of units of measurement.
The updated units of measurement have been notified and will become binding for all field formations of customs as well as importers/exporters. No document including Goods Declaration (GD) shall be accepted after September 30, 2019, if the information regarding units of quantity declared/shown is not in accordance with aforementioned customs general order. The valuation system has also been aligned with the updated units of measure by customs operations in the field to ensure trade facilitation and smooth cargo clearances accordingly.