SRO 1864/1865 (2026): Goods Evaluators & Sub-Inspectors

Written 21 October 2026. Two notifications dated 20 October 2026 change who can act as a customs officer on certain functions. Pakistan Customs has given officer status to two contract-based grades: Sub-Inspectors at Digital Enforcement Stations and Goods Evaluators at the Centralized Assessment Units. It has then let them stand alongside Inspectors and Appraising Officers in the table that assigns functions under the Customs Act.

Neither notification places any new duty on clearing agents or importers. There is no new form, filing or deadline for you. What may change is which grade of officer you deal with, and whose decision carries authority, on functions previously listed for Inspectors and Appraising Officers.

For background on the Centralized Assessment Units themselves, see our earlier piece on the new customs digital management system. This article covers only the staffing and authority layer.

SRO 1864(I)/2026: two grades become "officers of Customs"

Made under clause (g) of section 3 of the Customs Act, 1969, FBR "is pleased to notify the persons appointed on contract basis as Sub-Inspectors at Digital Enforcement Stations and Goods Evaluators at the Centralized Assessment Units, as 'officers of Customs'."

SRO 1865(I)/2026: added to the appropriate-officer table

Made under clause (b) of section 2 of the Customs Act, it amends SRO 52(I)/2024, dated 18 January 2024. In the Table of that notification, in column (3):

after "Inspector", wherever it occurs, "/Sub-Inspector" is inserted; and
after "Appraising Officer", wherever it occurs, "/Goods Evaluator" is inserted.

What that Table does

SRO 52(I)/2024 is the notification in which FBR assigns "to the officers of customs mentioned in column (3)… the functions of the appropriate officers, referred to in various sections of the Customs Act, 1969" and listed in column (2). Column (2) names the provision; column (3) names which officers may act as the appropriate officer for it.

So wherever the Table lists an Appraising Officer, a Goods Evaluator can now act too. Wherever it lists an Inspector, a Sub-Inspector can now act too. On the first page of the Table alone, "Appraising Officer" appears against section 25(4), (11) and (12), section 26(1)(c), sections 26A and 26B, and sections 47 and 48. "Inspector" appears against several of the same rows and others, including sections 44 and 50. The Table runs to six pages; read it for the provisions that matter to your work.

What to take from it

A Goods Evaluator or Sub-Inspector acting on a function the Table lists for an Appraising Officer or Inspector is acting within that assignment. They are not exceeding their authority.
When an officer's authority matters to a step in your consignment, the grade on the order or examination now has two more valid entries.
Nothing here changes what you file, when you file it, or what you pay.

Read from FBR's notifications on 21 October 2026, at the page images:

SRO 1864(I)/2026 and SRO 1865(I)/2026: both dated 20 October 2026, C.No.2(2)L&P/2023. The SRO numbers are handwritten on the scans and match FBR's index.
SRO 52(I)/2024: its own dateline is 18 January 2024 (FBR's index lists 28.01.2024).

This is general information, not legal advice.