Pakistan Tender – Here We Go Again!

The Pakistan Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has held a pre-bidding conference for granting a five-year licence for what it describes in a public announcement as an ‘IT-based Solution for Electronic Monitoring (Track and Trace System) for Tobacco Products, Sugar, Fertiliser and Cement’.

As reported by thenews.com.pk, the conference was held on 4 December at FBR headquarters and attended by 25 participants physically and another 15 virtually. It was conducted by the FBR board member for Inland Revenue and Operations, Dr Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmed, and Project Director (Track & Trace System) Tariq Hussain Shaikh, and explained the functions, features and purpose of implementing the track and trace system, which included minimum human interface. 

The FBR team reportedly responded to all queries to the satisfaction of participants. The team further clarified that the last, non-extendable, date to receive the bids was 19 December 2020, and that the track and trace system would be rolled out by 30 June 2021.

The chosen licensee will be responsible for the end-to-end installation and operation of a system that connects manufacturing sites and import stations to the FBR’s central control room, and that includes the provision of tax stamps and integrated codes for real-time electronic monitoring.

This ‘reboot’ of the track and trace tender comes six months or so after the cancellation of a tobacco tax stamp and track and trace contract awarded to a consortium led by the National Radio & Telecommunication Corporation – with Perum Peruri providing the tax stamps. Let’s hope that this time round the award will stick.