KARACHI, July 21 Asia Pulse - Container Security Initiative-III (CSI-III) for pre-shipment inspection of cargo destined to the US will be in place at the Port Qasim by the end of this year, reducing logistic time and cost. This was stated by Chairman Central Board of Revenue (CBR) Abdullah Yousaf here on Thursday.
Addressing a seminar on "Dry ports of tomorrow", Abdullah Yousaf said CSI-III, an improvised form of CSI, would be the first of its kind facility being established at the Port Qasim. This facility would later be replicated in other ports of the world by the US authorities, he added.
Under the initiative, American equipment is being installed for trans-ocean clearance of goods for tackling security-related issues by scanning shipments from Pakistani export outlets to the US. An agreement to this effect was signed by Pakistani and US authorities in March 2006
. The system would be a source of cutting down by half the days involved in pre-shipment and security clearance of goods from Pakistan to America.
Chairman CBR underlined the need to reduce logistics costs, which are very high at present. He said the public sector role in running dry ports should be reduced.
(PPI)
21-07 1726
