A recent audit has uncovered breaches in Pakistan’s Faceless Customs Assessment (FCA) system, revealing the clearance of restricted and banned goods worth Rs 10.538 billion, in violation of the Import Policy Order (IPO), according to a news report.
The audit, conducted by the Directorate General of Post Clearance Audit (PCA) between December 16, 2024, and March 15, 2025, found widespread customs violations and duty evasion that had been overlooked by the FCA system, which was introduced to curb corruption in customs procedures.
Among the findings, over 1,000 Goods Declarations (GDs) involved restricted goods that were erroneously processed, undermining the core function of the FCA system, which was designed to prevent such violations.
Additionally, the audit revealed Rs 5.007 billion in duty and tax evasion across 1,524 GDs, resulting in an average loss of over Rs 3.3 million per declaration. A failure to process contravention cases led to an additional loss of Rs 2.433 billion in statutory fines.
The total revenue loss from these cases amounted to Rs 7.44 billion, but sources indicate the actual scale of losses could be higher, as the audit covered only 8.8% of total clearances due to limited resources.
The audit also highlighted Rs 30.364 billion in revenue losses linked to the non-framing of contravention cases under the SRO 499(I)/2009. Less than 2% of high-value tax evasion cases were officially pursued, allowing substantial losses to go unpunished.
Additionally, the audit revealed that around Rs 60 million in duties and taxes were evaded after the cancellation of finalised GDs. Concerns were raised regarding solar panel shipments cleared with unauthorised NTNs and Customs User IDs, suggesting potential trade-based money laundering involving Rs 643 million.
While the FCA system was touted as a solution to endemic customs corruption, the audit indicates that its implementation has introduced new vulnerabilities, leading to an estimated Rs 38 billion in revenue losses.
