FBR Takes Notice of ‘Luxury Items’ Being Seized From Passengers at Airports

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Wednesday took notice of ‘luxury items’ being seized from passengers arriving at the country’s airports and issued fresh directives and clarification in this regard to the custom officials.

In a notification sent to the Chief Collectors of Customs Islamabad, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, and Lahore, the FBR said that the government had issued SRO 598(1)/2022 with a list of items that were banned for import in the country until further notice.

However, it came to the knowledge of the FBR that field formations, especially at airports have seized small quantities of these items / goods, especially food items from the personal luggage of passengers causing hardship to travelers entering the country.

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) said that it has taken strong notice of the matter and directed that only commercial quantities of the banned items be seized, while bona fide passenger luggage shall not be stopped / seized and genuine passengers facilitated as per past practice.

The board reiterated that any deviation from the above directions shall entail disciplinary action against the official. The copy of the notification is attached below for reference.

It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan Customs had started to detain and seize ‘luxury items’ from passenger after the government banned the commercial import of said goods in order to recover the balance of payment deficit and stabilize the depreciation of the Pakistani Rupee against the US Dollar (USD to PKR).

Read more: List of Luxury Items Banned For Import in Pakistan.

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