BENCHMARKING OF IMPORT CLEARANCE PROCESS OF US AND PAKISTAN TO FIND POTENTIAL IMPROVEMENTS

Abstract

Efficient customs clearance has a grave impact on the trade of a country. Importers may incur huge losses in meeting the orders if their incoming cargo is stuck at the port due to a delay in customs clearance. Pakistan faces phenomenal delays in the import customs clearance process that marks the overall time to 3-4 days minimum. Using the Benchmarking technique, flow diagrams and value stream mapping, import customs procedure of Pakistan is compared against the United States import customs process. Using value stream mapping, non-value time is identified in Pakistan is much greater than that of in the process of US. Main reasons are established as no scrutiny or homework before the cargo arrival, human interaction, and delay at bureaucratic level. In this report, recommendations are provided to be shared with policy makers in Pakistan to improve the import customs clearance time.