China and Pakistan have agreed to establish electronic data sharing systems by the end of 2015 to help curb under-invoicing, over-invoicing and misdeclarations.

The agreement was reached during the fifth meeting of second phase negotiations of the China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA) which was held in Islamabad on 3-5 August 2015.

Satisfactory progress

A statement issued by Pakistan’s Ministry of Commerce said that both sides reviewed and expressed satisfaction with progress made by the working group of customs officials that was dealing with electronic data interchange-related issues.

“There is progress on establishing an electronic data interchange system and Chinese customs officials will arrive in the current or next month to finalise the mechanism,” said the ministry’s additional secretary, Robina Ather.

Banking arrangements

“This is a big achievement; it will remove discrepancies in trade figures due to under-invoicing and misreporting,” she added.

In earlier rounds of talks, the two countries made much headway in the banking sector and agreed to ease the conditions for opening bank branches in each other’s territory.

Categories: Trade Based Financial crimes News