[1969: Act IV]

(Chapter XI - Warehousing)

CHAPTER XI

WAREHOUSING

84. Application to warehouse. When any dutiable goods have been entered for warehousing and assessed under section 80, the owner of such goods may apply for leave to deposit the same in any warehouse appointed or licensed under this Act:

¹[Provided that the Collector of Customs, for reasons to be recorded in writing, may disallow the warehousing of goods or any class of goods or goods belonging to a particular importer.]

85. Form of application. Every such application shall be in writing signed by the applicant, and shall be in such form as may be prescribed by the Board.

86. Warehousing bond. (1) When any such application has been made in respect of any goods, the owner of the goods to which it relates shall execute a bond, binding himself in a penalty of twice the amount of the duty assessed under section 80 or section 81 or reassessed under section 109 on such goods,-

(a) to observe all the provisions of this Act and the rules in respect of such goods;

(b) to pay on or before a date specified in a notice of demand all duties, rent and charges payable in respect of such goods together with ²[surcharge] on the same from the date so specified at the rate of ³[two percent per month] or such other rate as is for the time being fixed by the Board; and

(c) to discharge all penalties incurred for violation of the provisions of this Act and the rules in respect of such goods.

(2) Every such bond shall be in such form as is from time to time prescribed by the Board, and shall relate to the goods or portion of the goods of one conveyance only.

(3) Notwithstanding anything in sub-section (2), for the purposes of sub-section (1), the Collector of Customs may permit any importer to enter into a general bond in such amount and subject to such conditions, limitations or restrictions as the Collector of Customs may determine in respect of the warehousing of goods to be imported by such importer within a specified period.

(4) A bond executed under this section by an importer in respect of any goods shall continue in force notwithstanding the transfer of the goods to any other person or the removal of the goods to another warehouse or warehousing station.

1. Added by the Finance Act, 1990.

2. Substituted by the Finance Act, 1990.

3. Substituted by the Finance Ordinance, 1981 (XXIV of 1981),S.4 w.e.f. 25th June, 1981.

Provided that, where the whole of the goods or any part thereof are transferred to another person, the appropriate officer may accept a fresh bond from the transfree in a sum equal to twice the amount of duty assessed on the goods transferred and thereupon the bond executed by the transferer shall be deemed to be discharged to the extent to which the fresh bond has been executed by the transferee.

87. Forwarding of goods to warehouse. (1) When the provisions of section 85 and 86 have been complied with in respect of any goods, such goods shall be forwarded in charge of an officer of customs to the warehouse in which they are to be deposited.

(2) A pass shall be sent with the goods specifying the name of the bonder and the name or number of the importing conveyance, the marks, numbers and contents of each package, and the warehouse or place in the warehouse wherein they are to be deposited.

88. Receipt of goods at warehouse. (1) On receipt of the goods, the pass shall be examined by the warehouse-keeper, and shall be returned to the appropriate officer.

(2) No package, but cask or other container shall be admitted into any warehouse unless it bears the marks and numbers specified in, and otherwise corresponds with, the pass for its admission.

(3) If the goods be found to correspond with the pass, the warehouse-keeper shall certify to that effect on the pass, and the warehousing of such goods shall be deemed to have been completed.

(4) If the goods do not so correspond, the fact shall be reported by the warehouse-keeper for the orders of the appropriate officer, and the goods shall either be returned to the custom-house in charge of an officer of customs or kept in deposit pending such orders as the warehouse-keeper deems most convenient.

(5) If the quantity or value of any goods has been incorrectly stated in the bill of entry, due to inadvertence on bona fide error, the error may be rectified at any time before the warehousing of the goods is completed, and not subsequently.

89. Goods how warehoused. Except as provided in section 94, all goods shall be warehoused in the packages, butts, casks or other containers in which they have been imported.

90. Warrant to be given when goods are warehoused. (1) Whenever any goods are lodged in a public warehouse or a licensed private warehouse, the warehouse-keeper shall deliver a warrant signed by him as such to the person lodging the goods.

(2) Such warrant shall be in such form as the Board may from time to time prescribe, and shall be transferable by endorsement, and the endorsee shall be entitled to receive the goods specified in such warrant on the same terms as those on which the person who originally lodged the goods would have been entitled to receive the same.

(3) The Board may, by notification in the official Gazette, exempt any class of goods from the operation of this section.

91. Access of customs officer to private warehouse. The appropriate officer shall have access to any private warehouse licensed under this Act.

92. Power to cause packages lodged in warehouse to be opened and examined. (1) The appropriate officer may at any time by order in writing direct that any goods or packages lodged in any warehouse shall be opened, weighed or otherwise examined; and, after any goods have been so opened, weighed or examined, may cause the same to be sealed or marked in such manner as he thinks fit.

(2) When any goods have been so sealed and marked after examination, they shall not be again opened without the permission of the appropriate officer; and, when any such goods have been opened with such permission, the packages shall, if he thinks fit, be again sealed or marked.

93. Access of owner to warehoused goods. (1) Any owner of goods lodged in a warehouse shall, at any time within the hours of business, have access to his goods in the presence of an officer of customs, and an officer of customs shall, upon application for the purpose being made in writing to the appropriate officer, be deputed to accompany such owner.

(2) When an officer of customs is specially employed to accompany such owner, a sum sufficient to meet the expense thereby incurred shall, subject to rules, be paid by such owner to the appropriate officer, and such sum shall, if the appropriate officer so directs, be paid in advance.

94. Owner's power to deal with warehoused goods. (1) With the sanction of the appropriate officer and on payment of such fees as may be prescribed by rules, the owner of any goods may, either before or after warehousing the same:-

(a) separate damaged or deteriorated goods from the rest;

(b) sort the goods or change their containers for the purpose of preservation, sale, export or disposal of the goods;

(c) deal with the goods and their containers in such manner as may be necessary to prevent loss or deterioration or damage to the goods;

(d) show the goods for sale; or

(e) take such samples of goods as may be allowed by the appropriate officer with or without entry for home-consumption, and with or without payment of duty, except such as may eventually become payable on a deficiency of the original quantity.

(2) After any such goods have been so separated and repacked in proper or approved packages, the appropriate officer may, at the request of the owner of such goods, cause or permit any refuse, damaged or surplus goods remaining after such separation or repacking (or, at the like request, any goods which may not be worth the duty) to be destroyed, and may remit the duty payable thereon.

Provided that the said period may, in case of non-perishable goods, be extended, on sufficient cause being shown by the owner of the warehoused goods and subject to the condition that he pays in advance surcharge on the duty and taxes involved at two per cent per month for the extended period --

(a) by the Collector of Customs, for a period not exceeding six months; and

(b) by the Federal Government or the Board, for such period as it may deem fit.]

(2) The Federal Government may, subject to such conditions, or restrictions as it may deem fit to impose, by notification in the official gazette, remit the whole or a part of the surcharge in case of any goods or category of goods and the Board, in circumstances of exceptional nature, may, subject to such conditions, limitations or restrictions, if any, as it may think fit to impose, by a special order in each case recording such circumstances remit the whole or a part of the surcharge.

(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), the Federal Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, limit the period for which goods or class of goods may remain in the warehouse:

Provided that such period shall not be less than one month.

(4) When the licence of any warehouse is cancelled, the owner of any goods warehoused therein shall, within ten days of the date on which notice of such cancellation is given, or within such extended period as the appropriate officer may allow, remove the goods from that warehouse to another warehouse or clear them for home-consumption or exportation.

99. Power to remove goods from one warehouse to another in the same customs-station. (1) Any owner ²[or a manufacturer-cum-exporter duly authorized by such owner in respect] of goods warehoused under this Act may, within the period of their warehousing under section 98, and with the permission of the Collector of Customs, on such conditions and after giving such security, if any, as the Collector directs, remove goods from one warehouse to another warehouse in the same warehousing station.

(2) When any owner ²[or a manufacturer-cum-exporter duly authorized by such owner] desires to remove any goods, he shall apply for permission to do so in such form as the Board may prescribe.

100. Power to remove goods from one warehousing station to another. (1) Any owner ²[or a manufacturer-cum-exporter duly authorized by such owner in respect] of goods warehoused at any warehousing station may, within the period of their warehousing under section 98, remove the same for the purpose of their warehousing them at any other warehousing station.

(2) When any owner ²[or a manufacturer-cum-exporter duly authorized by such owner desires to remove any goods for such purpose, he shall apply to the Collector of Customs in such form and manner as the Board may prescribe stating therein the particulars of the goods to be removed, and the name of the customs-station to which they are to be removed.

1. Omitted by the Finance Act, 1998

2. Inserted by the Finance Act, 1999

101. Transmission of account of goods to officers at warehousing station of destination. (1) When permission is granted for the removal of any goods from one warehousing station to another under section 100, an account containing the particulars thereof shall be transmitted by the appropriate officer of the customs-station of removal to the appropriate officer of the customs-duties of destination

(2) The person requiring the removal shall before such removal enter into a bond, with one sufficient surety, in a sum equal at least to the duty chargeable on such goods, for the due arrival and re-warehousing thereof at the customs-station of destination, within such time, as the Collector of Customs directs.

(3) Such bond may be taken by the appropriate officer either at the customs-station of removal or at the customs-station of destination as best suits the convenience of the owner.

(4) If such bond is taken at the customs-station of destination, a certificate thereof signed by the appropriate officer of such station shall at the time of the removal of such goods be produced to the appropriate officer at the customs-station of removal, and such bond shall not be discharged unless such goods are produced to the appropriate officer, and duly re-warehoused at the customs-station of destination within the time allowed for such removal or are otherwise accounted for to the satisfaction of such officer, nor until the full duty due upon any deficiency of such goods, not so accounted for, has been paid.

102. Remover may enter into a general bond. The Collector of Customs may permit any person desirous of removing warehoused goods to enter into a general bond, with such sureties, in such amount and under such conditions as the Collector approves, for the removal, from time to time, of any goods from one warehouse to another, either in the same or in a different warehousing station and for the due arrival and re-warehousing of such goods at the destination within such time as the Collector directs.

103. Goods on arrival at customs-station of destination to be subject to same laws as goods on first importation. Upon the arrival of warehoused goods at the customs-station of destination, they shall be entered and warehoused in like manner as goods are entered and warehoused on the first importation thereof and under the laws and rules, in so far as such laws and rules are applicable, which regulate the entry and warehousing of such last mentioned goods.

104. Clearance of bonded goods for home-consumption. Any owner ¹[or a manufacturer-cum-exporter duly authorized by such owner in respect] of warehoused goods may, at any time within the period of their warehousing under section 98, clear such goods for home-consumption by paying —

(a) the duty assessed on such goods under the provisions of this Act; and

(b) all rent, penalties, ²[surcharge] and other charges payable in respect of such goods ³[:]

1. Inserted by the Finance Act, 1999.

2. Substituted by the Finance Act, 1985 (I of 1985) w.e.f. 1st July, 1985

3. Substituted by the Finance Act, 1999

¹[Provided that in case of manufacturer-cum-exporter duly qualified for claiming exemption under any notification issued under this Act, the ex-bonding of goods under this section shall be without payment of duties and taxes.]

105. Clearance of warehoused goods for export. Any owner of warehoused good may, at any time within the period of their warehousing under section 98, clear such goods for export out of Pakistan on payment of all net, penalties, ⁴[surcharge] and other charges payable as aforesaid but without paying any import duty thereon:

Provided that, if the ²[Federal Government] is of the opinion that warehoused goods of any specified description are likely to be smuggled back into Pakistan, it may, by notification in the official Gazette, direct that such goods shall not be exported to any place outside Pakistan without payment of duty or allow them to be exported subject to such restrictions and conditions as may be specified in the notification.

106. Clearance of warehoused goods for except as provisions, on a conveyance proceeding to foreign destination. Any warehoused provisions and stores may be exported within the period of their warehousing under section 98 without payment of import duty for use on board any conveyance proceeding to a foreign territory.

107. Application for clearance of goods. (1)An application to clear goods from any warehouse for home- consumption or for export shall be make in such form as the Board may prescribe.

(2) Such application ordinarily be made to the appropriate officer at least twenty-four hours before it is intended to their such goods.

108. Reassessment of warehoused goods when damaged or deteriorated. If any goods upon which duties are levied ad valorem ³[or otherwise] are damaged or deteriorated due to an unavoidable accident or cause after they have been entered for warehousing and assessed under section 80 and before they are cleared for home-consumption, their value in the damaged or deteriorated state may be appraised ⁴[according to either of the methods provided in sub-section (2) of section 27], if the owner so desires, by an officer of customs and the duty leviable thereon shall be diminished in proportion to the diminution of their value and a new bond for twice the amount of the diminished duty may, at the option of the owner, be executed by him to replace the bond originally executed.

109. Reassessment on alteration of duty. If any goods have been entered for warehousing and assessed under section 80 but the duty leviable thereon is subsequently altered, such goods shall be assessed on the basis of the altered duty and a new bond shall be executed by the owner in accordance with the provisions of section 86 to replace the bond originally executed by him.

1. Added by the Finance Act, 1999

2. Substituted by the Finance Ordinance, 1972 (XXI of 1972) w.e.f. 17th June, 1972

3. Added by the Finance Ordinance, 1986

4. Substituted by the Finance Act, 1985 (I of 1985) w.e.f. 1st July, 1985

110. Allowance in case of volatile goods. When any warehoused goods of such class or description as the Board having regard to the volatility of such goods and the manner of their storage may, by notification in the official Gazette, specify are, at the time of delivery from a warehouse, found to be deficient in quantity and the Collector of Customs is satisfied that such deficiency is on account of natural loss, no duty shall be charged on such deficiency.

111. Duty on goods improperly removed from warehouse or allowed to remain beyond fixed time or lost or destroyed or taken as sample. In respect of goods specified hereunder the goods appropriate officer may demand and upon such demand the owner of such goods shall forthwith pay the full amount of duty chargeable on such goods together with all rent, penalties, ¹[surcharge] and other charges payable in respect of them, namely:-

(a) warehoused goods which are removed in contravention of section 97.

(b) goods which have not been removed from the warehouse within the time allowed for such removal under section 98.

(c) goods in respect of which a bond has been executed under section 86 and which have not been cleared for home-consumption or export or removed in accordance with the provisions of this Act and are lost or destroyed otherwise than an provided in section 94 and 95 or as mentioned in section 115, or are not accounted for to the satisfaction of the appropriate officer.

(d) goods which have been taken under section 94 as samples without payment of duty.

112. Procedure on failure to pay duty, etc. (1) If any owner fails to pay any sum demanded under section 111, the appropriate officer may either proceed upon the bond executed under section 86, or cause such portion of the owner's goods in the warehouse to be detained as he may consider adequate to recover the demand, and a notice in writing of such detention shall immediately be given to the owner.

(2) In case the demand is not discharged within fifteen days of the date of such notice, the goods so detained may be sold.

(3) The net proceeds of any such sale shall be entered upon and adjusted against the bond and the surplus if any remaining after full satisfaction of the bond shall be disposed of in the manner provided, in section 201.

(4) No transfer or assignment of the goods shall prevent the appropriate officer from proceeding against such goods in the manner above provided, for any amount due thereon.

113. Noting removal of goods. (1) When any warehoused goods are taken out of any warehouse, the appropriate officer shall cause the fact to be noted on the back of the bond.

(2) Every note so made shall specify the quantity and description of such goods, the purposes for which they have been removed, the date of removal, the name of the person removing them, the number and date of the bill of export under which they have been taken away, if removed for exportation, or of the bill of entry, if removed for home-consumption and the amount of duty paid, if any.

1. Substituted by the Finance Act, 1985 (I of 1985) w.e.f. 1st July, 1985.

114. Register of bonds . (1) A register shall be kept of all bonds entered into for customs-duties on warehoused goods, and entry shall be made in such register of all particulars required by section 113 to be specified.

(2) When such register shows that the whole of the goods covered by any bond have been cleared for home-consumption or export, or otherwise duly accounted for, and when all amounts due on account of such goods have been paid, the appropriate officer shall cancel such bond as discharged in full, and shall on demand deliver the cancelled bond to the person who executed it or who is entitled to receive it.

115. Power to remit duties on warehoused goods lost or destroyed. If any warehoused goods in respect of which a bond has been executed under section 86 and which have not been cleared for home-consumption are lost or destroyed by unavoidable accident or cause, the Collector of Customs may in his discretion remit the duties due thereon:

Provided that, if any such goods be so lost or destroyed in a ¹[(*****)] warehouse, notice thereof be given to the appropriate officer within forty-eight hours after the discovery of such loss or destruction.

116. Responsibility of warehouse keeper. The warehouse-keeper in respect of goods lodged in a public warehouse, and the licensee in respect of goods lodged in a private warehouse, shall be responsible for their due receipt therein and delivery there from, and their safe custody while deposited therein, according to the quantity, weight or gauge reported by the officer of customs who has assessed such goods, allowance being made, if necessary, for deficiency in quantity on account of natural loss as provided in section 110:

Provided that no owner of goods shall be entitled to claim form the appropriate officer or from any keeper of a public warehouse, compensation for any loss or damage occurring to such goods while they are being passed into or out of such warehouse, or while they remain therein, unless it be proved that such loss or damage was occasioned by the wilful act or neglect of the warehouse-keeper or of an officer of customs.

117. Locking of warehouses. (1) Every public warehouse shall be under the lock and key of both the warehouse-keeper appointed by the Collector of Customs, and the appropriate officer.

(2) Every private warehouse shall be under the lock and key of both the licensee and the appropriate officer.

118. Power to decide where goods may be deposited in public warehouse or private warehouse, and on what terms. The Collector of Customs may from time to time determine in what division of any public warehouse ²[or private warehouse], and in what manner, and on what terms, any goods may be deposited, and what sort of goods may be deposited in any such warehouse.

119. Expenses of carriage, packing etc. to be borne by owner. The expenses of carriage, packing and storage of goods on their receipt into or removal from a public warehouse shall, if paid by the appropriate officer or by the warehouse-keeper, be chargeable on the goods and be defrayed by, and recoverable from, the owner, in the manner provided in section 112.

1. Omitted by the Finance Act, 1990.

2. Inserted by the Finance Ordinance, 1984 (XXVIII of 1984) w.e.f. 14th June, 1984