Islamabad, August 19, 2025 (SPECIAL REPORT): Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs, Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry, has directed a two-week action plan to resolve delays in container clearance at Karachi Port and Port Qasim.
The order came after the Minister reviewed recommendations submitted by a high-level committee formed to address cargo clearance challenges and port congestion. The proposals have already been forwarded to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for immediate action.
Chaudhry emphasized the need to bring Pakistan’s port operations up to international standards, highlighting that faster clearance would boost trade activity and reduce business costs. He restructured the committee, converting it into an enforcement and monitoring body tasked with coordinating directly with the FBR.
Acting Chairman of Karachi Port Trust (KPT), Rear Admiral Atiq-ur-Rehman, and Rear Admiral Muhammad Khalid, Director of Operations at Port Qasim Authority (PQA), attended the meeting via video link from Karachi.
The committee, headed by Additional Secretary Maritime Affairs Umar Zafar Sheikh, includes representatives from KPT, PQA, Pakistan Customs, terminal operators, FBR, and other stakeholders. Its recommendations targeted bottlenecks across the clearance chain, including declaration filing, adjudication, laboratory analysis, transportation, inspections, auctions, and gate-out procedures.
Key proposals include:
Faster filing deadlines for cargo declarations with penalties for delays.
Virtual hearings to expedite adjudication.
Rapid screening technologies and expanded laboratory capacity.
Accelerated cargo auctions and expanded grounding space.
Deployment of additional customs examiners and manpower.
24/7 operations for customs reviews, inspections, laboratory work, and shipping.
For transportation improvements, the committee suggested expanding bonded transit facilities, upgrading tracker installations, deploying more escort staff, and lifting night-time restrictions on heavy trucks.
Infrastructure development recommendations included the creation of truck-holding areas, dedicated freight corridors for railways, and multimodal transport systems.
On the digital front, strategies include AI-based importer risk profiling, a unified stakeholder web portal, e-auction facilities, and real-time communication channels linking terminals, traders, and carriers.
The committee also proposed cutting the free storage period for containers in green and yellow channels from five to three days, alongside strict gate-out deadlines and financial penalties for non-compliance.
