Islamabad: The government has decided to establish a customs authority to curb smuggling in the country – a news source reported. A data bank will also be established to collect information for the purpose.
The decision was taken by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday. He was chairing a high-level meeting to review and control smuggling in the country.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Special Assistant to the PM on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said that the data bank will be developed with input from all agencies and departments in former FATA districts and the border areas of Balochistan.
She added that the current system has issues where different departments work in isolation reducing their chance of effectively taking action against smuggling.
The meeting was chaired by the PM and it was informed that Pakistan suffers an annual loss of USD 6.94 billion due to smuggling.
The aim of the data bank will be to reduce the tussle on jurisdiction and powers. Data will help reduce the human interaction and they will provide direct input to the central pools.
