All international passengers must declare currency, jewellery at airports, says Pakistan’s CAA

The Pakistan government has made currency declaration by all international passengers mandatory, as part of the measures taken to curb money laundering to fulfil the condition of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), according to a notification issued by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

The CAA has started implementing FATF standards in accordance with the government’s directives for submission of customs’ declaration forms by all inbound and outbound passengers of international flights giving details of their currency, gold jewellery, precious stones and restricted goods such as narcotics, weapons, satellite phones, etc.

Pakistan Customs has been directed to depute its staff at all international airports to facilitate inbound/outbound passengers of all international flights.

The airlines’ crews will distribute the customs’ declaration forms during the flights among all passengers, irrespective of their nationality. The declaration forms will be deposited at the customs` counters before the immigration desks at all airports.

The notification came as an FATF team was expected to arrive in Pakistan next month for "on-site" visit to verify steps taken by Islamabad to curb money laundering and terror financing, The Express Tribune reported.

A successful on-site visit would pave the way for Pakistan getting out of the FATF grey list. The CAA issued the notification on the instructions of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

The notification said that a declaration form would have to be filled and handed over to the airline staff, in which the passenger would show details of domestic and foreign currency.

No international passenger would be able to board the flight or leave the airport without submitting the declaration, it said. The notification added that the passengers would be required to submit the currency declaration form to the customs staff before checking in for the flight.

The authority had issued instructions that currency declaration forms should be made available at booking offices of the airlines. It added that domestic and foreign airlines, pilots and staff had been informed about the details regarding the provisions of the customs declaration form, The Express Tribune reported.