KARACHI: CEOs and high-ups of DP World / Qasim International Containers Terminal (QICT) and Maersk Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd including Habibullah Khan, Junaid Zamir and Aruna Hussain are allegedly looting the nation on coronavirus tragedy. In line with section 14 A of the Customs Act 1969, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs has reportedly decided to waive port demurrages and extend free time at ports in a meeting with the FPCCI but the companies like DP World / QICT and Maersk are not implementing the decisions to waive detention and demurrage and give extra free time, instead they are using this crisis time as an opportunity to mint illegal money for themselves.
According to details, DP World / QICT and Maersk are not implementing the decision of Ports and Shipping Minister Ali Zaidi, giving an excuse that the Ministry had not issued any notification in this regard to waive detention and demurrage and give extra free time at ports. DP World / QICT and Maersk are reportedly used to adopt similar tactics to make billions of rupees by blackmailing and taking additional illegal detention and demurrage charges. Even Sindh High Court had disposed of a case CP No D-4867 of 2013 by these companies challenging constitutionality of Section 14A of the Customs Act 1969. These companies are not willing to play any role for the society and the country at large in this situation. They are only playing their games to multiply their profits in the crisis time.
It is pertinent to mention here that terminal operators, shipping lines and their agents cannot demand additional demurrage and detention charges under SRO 1220(I)/2015 and Section 14A of the Customs Act, 1969. Maersk Pakistan Private Limited and DP World / QICT must comply to their obligation under the law in these difficult times to give 100% waiver for the charges including demurrage and detention because importers are facing unbearable losses due to CoronaVirus lockdowns. Maersk Pakistan and DP World / QICT violated SRO 1220 and section 14A of Customs Acts 1969 by taking extra demurrage and detention charges other than collecting applied duty and taxes. Law under SRO 1220(I)/ 2015 explains that shipping companies Maersk Pakistan & terminal operator DP World / QICT cannot charge any demurrage and detention where specifically it is not agreed and also specifically not mentioned on the B/L (Bill of Lading) but this law is grossly being violated by shipping lines especially Maersk Pakistan and their agents. As per Customs Act, 1969, the port cannot charge any demurrage or detention charges if Customs gives a certificate to importer titled ‘Delay and Detention Certificate’. Under rules 603 (Q), 603 (R), 604 (Q) and 607 (E), others of SRO 1220 (I)/2015, the shipping lines cannot charge any demurrage or detention charges where it is not specifically written on the B/L. But despite this certificate, importers goods are held illegally at the terminal and they are charged with heavy demurrage. On the other hand, in these difficult times, when importers find it difficult to sell their goods due to countrywide lockdown, PICT itself came forward and announced to waive all its charges on import of hand sanitizers, surgical masks, protective gloves and COVID-19 testing kits.
FPCCI Vice President Khurram Aijaz in his letter on 24 March 2020 to Minister Maritimes Affairs Ali Zaidi said, as there are serious restrictions imposed by the government to stop the spread of CoronaVirus so there is a shortage of customs staff and banking facilities for importers and exporters. In this situation it is impossible for them to get clearance of their goods and pay customs duty in time at Karachi Port and Port Qasim, so they have to bear heavy demurrage charges in case of delay in the clearance. The FPCCI requested the Minister to instruct PQA/KPT and private terminal operators to waive demurrage charge till 31st May, 2020.
FPCCI Vice President Khurram Aijaz said Ministry of Maritime Affairs has decided to waive port demurrages and extend free time at ports. It was reported that Minister Ali Zaidi announced that port demurrage charges would be waived by the ports till April 15, 2020. An official said that even after the issuance of official notification, port operators could go to court and obtain stay as it happened in past. To meet the challenge of the COVID – 19 challenge and to ensure that Port Operations continue unheeded and the supply service chain is not hindered, Ministry of Maritime Affairs has taken the following measures: Essential supplies of Medical Equipment/ Medical Supplies and Protective Gear, Perishable items, Food stuffs including Grains and Lentils, Pulses and Petroleum products is cleared expeditiously and freight is despatched. To facilitate importers and exporters, Port Authorities were advised to reduce/waive terminal, linear, demurrage charges and to extend free time at ports but DP World / QICT and Maersk Pakistan are still charging demurrage and detention.
President All Pakistan Customs Agents Association (APCAA) Arshad Jamal reportedly said port terminals were reluctant to waive demurrage and shipping lines had not waived container detention charges. Other clearing and forwarding agents Naeem and Zargham Shah were also showing dissatisfaction with the terminal management as they were not providing any relief to importers regarding demurrage even in these crisis times. “Ports are not releasing containers even after payment of demurrage and detention charges,” said Zargham Shah.
The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) had demanded relief from the government for port charges in view of the emergency situation and lockdown imposed on account of the coronavirus pandemic. Shabbir Mansha Churra, chairman, FPCCI’s Standing Committee on Customs and founder chairman of Pakistan Artificial Leather Imports and Merchants Association (PALIMA) has appealed to Prime Minister Imran Khan to prevent the destruction of trade and industry. He requested to defer port charges and late duty payments and fines till the country was in lockdown. “The goods arriving at the ports have to pay duty within 10 days, but due to the lockdown, the importers are unable to pay the duty on time, so they have to pay a daily fine which may go up to 100,000,” he added. The FPCCI official said the government had taken stringent steps to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, which has badly affected lives as well as economic activities. “Business activities are frozen and the business community is facing severe financial losses,” he added. He requested to defer late duty fines and waive off charges in term of demurrage and detention charges at ports for at least one month. Churra also requested an extension of 90 days in sales tax filing and withholding tax. He said that due to the coronavirus, the emergency was implemented under Force Majeure Clause worldwide. According to international law, after the implementation of this clause, all agreements and taxes were deferred to provide relief in difficult conditions. “The prime minister should waive off all port charges and fines for a month to save trade and industry from this economic crisis.” He also requested the give relief from banks. He assured to support the government’s efforts to curb coronavirus pandemic.
On the other hand, Pakistan International Container Terminal Limited (PICT) announced to waive its charges on import consignments of necessary materials to combat COVD-19. “PICT continues to operate 24 hours with all possible precautionary measures and essential staff only to ensure the sustainability of Pakistan trade and its duty towards the society,” said PICT in its filing to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). “Apart from various other initiatives taken by PICT within its premises, PICT has decided to waive its charges on import consignments of necessary materials to combat COVD-19 which include hand sanitizers, protective masks, surgical gloves and COVID testing kits. Through this initiative of PICT, importers will have the opportunity to reduce prices of such items for the general public and hospitals to fight this pandemic,” added PICT.
In a notification to Lahore and Karachi Customs Appraisement And Enforcement Departments, FBR has decided to extend the time for filing of goods declaration in exercise of powers under section 224 of the Customs Act 1969, from the existing 10 days of arrival of goods, under section 79 (1) of Customs Act 1969, to further 15 days (total 25 days) for all IGMs filed between 17th March to 7th April 2020. in order to facilitate the trade, FBR gave this extension on request of FPCCI and KCCI for extension in time limit of filing of GDs.
Sources said that DP World / QICT and Maersk are allegedly involved in multi-billion dollars demurrage and detention charges scam case where they blackmailed and harassed genuine importers to pay illegal charges for clearance of their consignments. Even, NAB has authorised such cases against DP World / QICT and Maersk. A complaint received by the NAB demanded legal action for recoveries of amounts looted and recovering losses of Rs. 610 billion to the national exchequer per year while also stopping such further losses from the accused persons of these companies including Habibullah Khan, Yuvraj Narayan, Deepak Parekh, Robert Woods, Abdulla Ghobash, Mark Russell, Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi, Nadya Abdulla Kamali, Mohammed Al Muallem, Suhail Al Banna, Rizwan Soomar, Rashid Abdulla, Mohammad Al Hashimy, Junaid Zamir and others of DP World/ QICT Ltd. The accused persons of DP World/ QICT Ltd. are facing charges of more than 20 mega scam allegations against them.
Another complaint received by the NAB demanded legal action for recoveries of amounts looted and recovering losses of Rs. 610 billion to the national exchequer per year while also stopping such further losses from the accused persons of these companies including Søren Skou, Claus V. Hemmingsen, Søren Toft, Vincent Clercp, Morten H. Engelstoft, others of Maersk Line; Arslan Khan, Gazanfar Khan, Raheel Salim, Maqsood Ul Hasan Khan, Fuad Khan, Hasan Faraz, Shakeel Masih, Omer Khan, Ali Jawad Alvi, Zafar Iqbal, Ayesha Chowdhry, Zahid Hussain, Salman Ahmad, Aamir Ali, Umais Aziz Khan, Mohammed Naeem, Farheen Mahmud, Mubasshar Iqbal, Affaq Syed, Syed Mohammad Abbas Jafri, Muhammad Tanveer Sharif, Salman Ateeq, Hamza Haq, Ziad Mahboob, Aamir Ibrahim, Yasir Saeed Khan, Amal Sadiq Dawood, Effat Mehmood, Maria Urooj, Zain Warsi, Mehreen Zulfiqar, Awais Saleem, Zafar Iqbal, Syed Osman Iqbal Zaidi, Anum Yaqub, Fahad Ali, Obaid Iqbal, Zahid Hussain, Muhammad Ali Qureshi, Danish Siddiqui, Amir Arif, Arshad Ayub, Syed Mudassir Ali, Syed Hammad Hussain, Ayesha Qadri, Sheikh Samiullah, others of M/S Maersk Pakistan Private Limited.
Sources said Maersk shipping line and its subsidiary in Pakistan, M/s Maersk Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd are blackmailing importers through illegal holding & blocking of their imported goods for the sake of demanding additional demurrage and detention charges.
Along with looting importers, DP World / QICT and Maersk have allegedly become a security threat for Pakistan, by appointing Indians at key positions, who could play havoc with lives of innocent Pakistanis through spread of toxic gas and Coronavirus in the country by the sea port. Customs Today reported that India wants to spread the Coronavirus through the sea port in Pakistan by misusing clearance process, allowing the infected shipments to clear without any examination or proper fumigation as suggested by the health authorities in Islamabad. Illegal appointment of Indians at Pakistan’s strategic sea port DP World / Qasim International Containers Terminal (QICT) without the Ministry of Interior’s (MOI) clearance could pose security threat to the country. Indians are reportedly spying on the QICT as it is controlled by M/s DP World Group with 75% shares and, many of the management staff and directors of board have been Indian nationals. Through such a discreet control of the DP World / QICT, Indians could achieve their alleged nefarious activities to destroy peace and stability in Pakistan.
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