ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has issued revised functions and jurisdiction of the Directorate General of Post Clearance Audit and Internal Audit.
The FBR has issued a S.R.0.1655 (I)/2025 here on Monday.
According to the notification, the FBR notified reorganization, functions, and jurisdiction of the Directorate General of Post Clearance Audit and Internal Audit as well as its Directorates, for post release functions.
The directors of Directorate General of Post Clearance Audit at Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Quetta would also perform powers and functions under the new notifications.
The officials of Post Clearance Audit (PCA) and Internal Audit (IA) would be empowered to devise National Customs Audit Strategy (NCAS) covering both Post clearance audit and internal audit based on the risk assessment aligned with objectives of Customs compliance and facilitation.
The PCA and IA officials would also review and Quality Assurance: A standardized country wide procedure for selection, conduct, raising observations, review, appeals, hearings, finalization and record keeping shall be adopted to ensure transparent and accurate audit process.
The feedback of audit shall be provided to field formations and Directorate of Risk Management for improving compliance management.
There shall be a Data Analytics Center (DAC) within the PCA-IA to utilize expertise of technical experts from public and private sector including data analysts, data scientists, system specialists, Al experts and statistical experts etc.
The DAC will act as the single point for aggregating data from all relevant sources, including data from internal systems WeBOC, PSW, valuation database, exemption certificates, seizure records, and past audit findings as well as data from other government agencies including OGAs, SECP, IRS, State Bank, Ministry of Commerce etc. and commercial data sources including market prices, shipping manifests, global trade databases etc.
The DAC will develop and implement processes to clean, normalize, and standardize inconsistent data to ensure its reliability for analysis; build and continuously refine statistical and machine learning models based on risk indicators to identify risky importers, exporters, and transactions.
The DAC will use techniques including network analysis and detection to find patterns indicative of misdeclaration, including under valuation or over-valuation compared to identical/similar goods, misclassification of goods to attract a lower duty rate, false claims of origin to benefit from trade agreements and patterns designed to claim undue refunds or rebates etc. and conduct horizontal analyses of specific sectors (e.g., textiles, auto parts, electronics) or specific risk types to identify systemic non-compliance and (g) oversee the use of advanced analytics software and technology to enhance efficiency of PC A-IA.
There shall be a centralized Audit Management Cell (AMC) within PCA-IA to: (a) prepare and monitor implementation of annual audit plan while utilizing inputs from DAC and other formations; (b) develop, review and update robust risk based selectivity criterion for selection of audits while ensuring non-overlap; (c) maintain the computerized records of audits conducted and consolidate audit reports prepared by all the Directorates of PCA-IA.
The Director General shall decide the jurisdiction of concurrent audit cases (if any).
The Director General shall decide the jurisdiction of legacy matters.
In case of entity based post clearance audit of any unit/importer or exporter the Directorates of PCA-IA shall have concurrent jurisdiction notwithstanding the clearance of goods from any Collectorate/ Directorate of Customs across the country.
The Director General shall by order assign functions of Audit Management Cell and Data Analytics Centre to such Additional Directors, Deputy/Assistant Directors, contract employees, and any other officers of Customs as he may deem appropriate.
The audit shall be conducted on the basis of international best practices and in light of the guidelines issued by the World Trade Organization and World Customs Organization, etc.
This notification shall take effect on the 30th, August 2025.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
