Licenses of KMTC, United Marine, Evergreen, Greenpak to be cancelled
KARACHI: Shipping lines and their agents allegedly involved in Rs 610 billion scandal would not be able to call their vessels on Karachi ports when their licenses are cancelled as several importers have applied for lodging FIRs against them and also taking penal action for violating SRO 1220 (I) 2015 and 14A of Customs Act.
Sources said importers of Pakistan should be careful for booking their containers with these shipping lines which would not be allowed to call their ships on ports in the event of cancellation of their licenses. Corruption of these corrupt shipping lines have shocked millions of importers across Pakistan as their businesses are at stake due to illegal demands of additional demurrage and detention charges and looting them mercilessly. They were already losing billions of rupees due to these corrupt shipping lines and now if these shipping lines’ licenses are cancelled then importers could not get their goods already loaded on these vessels. When licenses are cancelled of these shipping lines then the goods loaded on them would have to be called at transit locations like Dubai, Singapore, etc. instead of reaching Karachi ports.
Sources said corrupt shipping line KMTC, its agents United Marine Agencies (Pvt) Ltd and Evergreen Line and its agents GreenPak Shipping are blackmailing genuine importers through illegal holding of their imported goods for the sake of demanding additional demurrage and detention charges in violation of relevant customs laws.
Sources said such corrupt shipping companies are allegedly involved in Rs 610 billion mega scandal and their licenses could be cancelled for violating the set rules & laws. These shipping lines and their agents are deliberately holding the containers for minting illegal money and causing huge losses to the national exchequer by slowing down of revenue generation.
In a move to cancel the licenses of KMTC and their agents UMA, Evergreen and their agents GreenPak, customs preventive through Assistant Collector Licensing Hameer Khan has already written letters to various importers to provide GD copies of goods that are illegally held by these shipping lines and are violating SRO 1220 (I)/ 2015 and section 14A of the Customs Act, 1969. In fact, the owners, managers, staff of KMTC, UMA, Evergreen, Greenpak and also of port terminals like PICT face NAB, FIA enquiries for their alleged criminal acts of holding back the goods of importers of Pakistan while also facing 7 years imprisonment if convicted under sections 34, 407, 409, 420, 506 of Pakistan Penal Code as per applications already received by Jackson police station.
Customs Today has already procured copies of the multiple letters issued by Customs Preventive department while pursuing to cancel licenses and also of various FIR application copies received by the police station. Business community has further urged the importers of Pakistan to provide GD copies of their consignments to Customs preventive department that are blocked by any port terminal or by any shipping lines or their agents merely on the pretext of demurrage or detention charges. Also, business community has alerted all the importers loading their goods on these specific vessels to be careful as their goods would not reach Pakistan when the licenses of these shipping lines or their agents are cancelled or suspended.
According to the documents available, some importers have already filed 13 applications to lodge FIRs against these shipping lines and their agents including Deputy MD of Greenpak Abdul Rauf, CEO of United Marine Agencies Sohail Shams, COO PICT Khurram Aziz Khan and Chairman Marine Group Capt. Haleem Siddiqui, for demanding additional demurrage and detention charges from importers.
Sohail Shams, CEO United Marine Agencies
Sources stressed that these shipping lines and their agents cannot demand additional demurrage and detention charges under SRO 1220(I)/2015 and Section 14A of the Customs Act, 1969. Law under SRO 1220(I)/ 2015 explains that shipping companies cannot charge any demurrage and detention where specifically it is not agreed and also specifically not mentioned on the B/L (Bill of lading). Section 14A of the Customs Act, 1969 says the port (like PICT port) cannot charge any demurrage or detention charges if Customs gives a ‘delay and detention certificate’ to importer. But despite this certificate, KMTC and its agents hold goods of importers and charge them heavy amounts as detention.
According to documents available, importers, through shipper/their agents in China, handed the goods to KMTC Line as trust to be delivered and released to them here at PICT, Karachi, by their nominated agents United Marine Agencies at Karachi. Even importers have already paid in full to the shipping lines the ocean freight charges as agreed between the parties. But the agents have not released their goods yet.
Sources said now United Marine Agencies has refused to release their goods and started illegally demanding additional charges in shape of demurrage/detention that were never agreed earlier. They are losing daily due to non-availability of the said goods, reputation loss, loss of customers, etc. and also the goods quality is deteriorating daily and will lead to total loss very soon if the goods are not disposed in the markets.
According to the documents, actions of these shipping lines and their agents, individually and severally, tantamount to breach of trust, cheating, mischief to cause losses, threatening, etc. which attract penal sections under PPC 407, 409, 420, 427, 506, others.
Importers asserted that failure to release the above goods through issuance of delivery order will only compel them to take necessary legal action against these corrupt shipping lines and their agents in Pakistan.
Importers also demanded that United Marine Agencies (Pvt.) Ltd should waive off 100% of charges including demurrage and detention as none of these charges were specifically agreed between both the parties which is necessary under the law to put any such charges on importers. {Refer Rules 603(q), 603(r), 604(p), 604(q) & 607(e), others under SRO 1220/ 2015}.
Importers further said if United Marine Agencies (agents of KMTC) did not comply with its obligation of waving 100% charges of detention and demurrage, then necessary legal action will be taken under the law as also prescribed in section 156(1) 7A of the Customs Act, 1969 which includes penalty on United Marine Agencies (Pvt.) Ltd and also cancellation of license of United Marine Agencies (Pvt.) Ltd under SRO 1220(I)/2015.
Haleem Siddiqui, Chairman Marine Group
In another similar complaint, “Importers firm, through their shipper, handed the goods to Evergreen Line as trust to be delivered and released to them here at PICT, Karachi. The shipping lines nominated M/S Greenpak Shipping (Private) Limited as their agents at Karachi for the same while the company PICT Ltd. took custody of the goods as trust at PICT port, Karachi. Importers also long back paid in full to the shipping lines the ocean freight charges as agreed between the parties. But despite repeated reminders and visiting office of M/S Greenpak Shipping (Private) Limited and of PICT Ltd., they did not release the goods yet”.
Importers said, “The actions of Evergreen Line through its owners, management and staff including but not limited to Chang Cheng-Yung, Chang Kuo-Hua, Chang Kuo- Ming, Ko Lee-Ching, Lee Mong-Jye, Hsieh Huey-Chuan, others and of M/S Greenpak Shipping (Private) Limited through its owners, management and staff including but not limited to Javed Iqbal, Mohammad Reza Ghaem Maghami, Safdar Hussain Mehkri, Syed Qamar ul Hasan, Abdul Hamid, others and of PICT Ltd. through its owners, management and staff including but not limited to Haleem Siddiqui, Christian R. Gonzalez, Roman Felipe S. Reyes, Aasim Azim Siddiqui, Rafael D. Consing Jr., Gordon Alan P Joseph, Hans-Ole Madsen, Sharique Azim Siddiqui, Khurram Aziz Khan, Muhammad Hunain, Junaid Qureshi, Shujaat Hussain, others, individually and jointly, tantamount to conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, cheating, mischief to cause losses, threatening, etc. which attract penal sections under PPC 34, 407, 409, 420, 427, 506, besides others.”