By Ali Imran
ISLAMABAD: A review committee has recommended that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) halt the further rollout of the much-publicised Faceless Customs Assessment (FCA) system after discovering that it caused a 57% increase in container clearance time and a decline in revenue.
The Review Committee on FCA also questioned the system’s design, stating that it had been tested 20 years ago and later discontinued due to similar flaws. After early reports of success, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif travelled to Karachi in January to inaugurate the new system. The FCA was introduced to eliminate physical contact between importers and customs officers, aiming to increase revenues and speed up clearance of imported containers.
“This committee does not recommend implementation of further phases or rollout of FCA unless its efficacy is confirmed through other means or with larger datasets, or its design is reviewed,” the three-member committee stated in its report finalised last month.
According to FBR’s original plan, the second phase of the FCA was to be implemented by June 2025 at all Appraisement Collectorates, dry ports, and land border stations. The third phase, scheduled for September 2025, would extend the system to all airports and Export Collectorates.
However, the committee has now advised halting the expansion due to major issues in the first phase. The FCA’s implied objective was to curb collusion between importers and customs officers, which was seen as a cause of revenue loss. But the report states the system “has not achieved this objective.” FBR Chairman Rashid Langrial told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance this week that the system was not primarily aimed at increasing revenue.
The report noted that two of the FCA’s basic design concepts — hiding trader information from assessing officers and ending specialised assessment groups — had already been tried and abandoned 20 years ago when Pakistan Customs’ first computerised system was introduced. The reasons for their earlier failure remain valid today.
The committee found that specialised assessment groups helped build sector-specific institutional memory and stronger customs controls, while also reducing clearance time through repeated handling of similar products.
Langrial acknowledged the implementation problems during a meeting with the Finance Committee on Friday and said they would be resolved by next month. However, the very committee formed under his orders has recommended halting the rollout.
The final report on FCA and Centralised Assessment Unit (CAU) performance was submitted to FBR management last month, in response to a review ordered by Langrial.
The report revealed that in November 2024, before the FCA was implemented, the average clearance time for goods declarations was 25.6 hours. This rose steadily, peaking at 46 hours in April 2025. On average, clearance time increased 57% to 40.2 hours.
