ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has instructed its field formations to gear up their anti-smuggling operations against illicit and smuggled cigarettes.

An official statement issued on Thursday said that Director General (I&I IR) and DG (I&I Customs) and Collectors have been instructed by chairman FBR to supervise the operations. The officials have been asked to ensure that every possible avenue of illicit trade in tobacco sector must be checked so that huge revenue leakage can be prevented. Tobacco sector is one of the leading sectors of revenue contribution.

Meanwhile, the I&I Customs has seized 6.7 million cartons of smuggled cigarettes from July to Nov 2020 having an approximate value of Rs542m.

The Inland Revenue Enforcement Network (IREN) which was established in Sept 2019 and tasked with conducting raids and seizures on the counterfeit and non-duty paid cigarettes managed to seize 35.8m sticks of cigarettes during July to Nov 2020.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2020