FBR's New Customs Penalties Hit Importers Rs25,000/Day From October 1
FBR has rewritten the rulebook on what happens when import and export cargo sits too long at Pakistan's ports without being cleared — and this time, the fines are automated, graded by how many days you're late, and capped at a much steeper ceiling than before.
What FBR actually notified
Through customs notification SRO 1346 of 2026, FBR issued a revised penalty schedule for importers and exporters who miss statutory deadlines under the Customs Act, 1969. The new schedule replaces last year's notification and takes effect from October 1, 2026 — giving traders and clearing agents about six weeks to adjust their processes before the higher rates kick in.
The penalty structure, scenario by scenario
The rules aren't a single flat fine — they're graded by exactly what went wrong and for how long:
- Late filing of the Goods Declaration: importers who fail to file a GD for home consumption, warehousing, or transhipment within 20 days of a shipment's arrival face Rs25,000 per day for the first five days, rising to Rs50,000 per day after that, capped at Rs1 million
- Goods not lifted after assessment: if a GD is filed but the cargo isn't removed within 5 days of terminal assessment and duty clearance, the fine is Rs15,000 per day for the first five days, then Rs20,000 per day, also capped at Rs1 million
- Late filing combined with uncleared goods: a mixed scenario carries Rs10,000 per day for five days, rising to Rs20,000 per day, capped at Rs1 million
- Exporters who fail to load consignments within 15 days of entering the port face Rs5,000 per day for the first five days, then Rs15,000 per day, capped at Rs1 million
FBR says the Customs Computerised System will calculate these penalties automatically at the time a GD is filed or before goods are released, rather than relying on a customs officer to manually flag the delay.
Why FBR moved on this now
The trigger, per reporting on the notification, was a scam in which a private company was found deliberately delaying its goods declarations to gain a temporary financial advantage — effectively using the old, less punitive fine structure as a cheaper alternative to timely clearance. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed FBR to close that loophole, and the result is a schedule where the daily cost of delay rises fast enough that sitting on a shipment is no longer the cheaper option.
What this means for traders
For most compliant importers and exporters, these deadlines already match how ports operate day to day, so the immediate impact should be limited. The real exposure is for businesses that have historically treated the 15-to-20-day window as flexible — waiting on financing, paperwork, or a better exchange rate before filing. Under the new schedule, that kind of delay now compounds daily rather than attracting a one-time, negotiable fine, and enforcement runs through adjudication proceedings or a voluntary deposit rather than case-by-case discretion.
The takeaway
October 1 gives businesses time to tighten up documentation and clearance timelines before the automated penalties start applying. Anyone budgeting for an import shipment should factor in these tighter deadlines alongside the usual duty and sales tax math — our customs duty calculator helps you work out the landed cost, but the SRO itself, available on FBR's SROs page, is the document to check before assuming your usual clearance timeline still has room to spare.
Also available in Urdu: اردو ورژن