Apologies for the late reply, was caught up with some work. Please find parawise replies to your comments below:
Im not proposing a xenocentric ideology - that If seen this in the USA, I have seen in in the darkest countries of Africa too - its basic common sense approach. The problem here seems that customs "assumes" it can twist anything to whatever they want it to mean and try to get away with it - e.g. my haltech ECU was swiped by customs claiming it a military BS mishmash and required some intervention - no problem - I carried it with me next time - this time at the airport the lovely customs were asking me to pay import duty on the clothes on my back - (that was an interesting conversation which was ended in a very desi fashion) - you see - you are a great guy - but 90% of the staff in customs just ask for their "share" if I want to own the goods - you are not in that 90% for sure.
--> Xulfiqar, could you please specify what "darkest countries of Africa" you have seen this phenomenon occurring in? Africa has one of the worst reputations for tampered vehicles and counterfeit sales especially Nigeria. For the issue of twisting, Customs or any other government agency does not twist anything. When you imported your ECU, you were merely asked for a satisfactory explanation of what the device was and if it had any military significance. You can "twist" this in any fashion you may deem appropriate but established procedure stands as practiced. On the other hand, Customs assumes that everyone in this country is honest enough to declare whatever they carry in their personal baggage under the universal self declaration scheme, as in most of the world. However, since we are a nation of hoodwinks, we choose to forgo provided instructions merely to our own personal convenience. Much like the rest of the developed world, airport Customs has green channel and red channel for passenger convenience. It is expected that passengers would self declare any objects that are deemed taxable. Errors of omission or commission can of course occur such as in the case of your good self. It is neither convenient nor justified to rummage through every piece of luggage carried by passengers on flights given the massive processing delays and passenger stress that would occur. As a personal request, please use the system, do not abuse the system.
e.g. - you say that MB declare supporting parts under the monocoque as frame - Last few dozen times I was in the tech session of body repair - the floor sills, jack points all six pillars and even the inner fender aprons were part of the "frame" - the frame has collapsible and "energy transfer" sections - its more than just - "aaey frame aye - aenoo frame nahi hai" - the whole collective is called frame - its also in their "workshop information system"
--> Paradoxically enough, you are supporting my lines of argument without fully comprehending my contention. The "inner parts" as you imply are frame and the outer parts are "monocoque". The simplest distinction is that load carrying structural members are frame and cosmetic areas are monocoques. If you examine the list of automobile sections that you mention above, it is essentially a similar distinction. Moreover, the section of the frame Customs is concerned with is the part with the automobile information and nothing else. There are other government agencies to look into those issues.
that is why in countries where health certifcates are mandated - e.g. the TUV in Germany - if your old W123 benz has welded jackpoints - where just the little sockets were welded - your car is scrap, you are required to replace the "specified parts" which are whole metal stampings which are quite a bit pricey (actually meaning that your "frame structure strength is compromised")
If they considered load bearing parts as frames - then lets take the rear end of a W124, 201, 210 benz - it has a sheet metal cradle which is held by 4 bushings and 10mm bolts - in a strong enough crash - it can rip out while the actual "monocoque" aka frame is the safety capsule and holds the passengers - the chassis or frame actually goes under, on sides and above the passenger cell which are then dubbed energy transfer zones.
--> Needless to say, as above. Also, if you are concerned over these issues please pursue legislation to this effect or consult an appropriate legal forum in this regard. There are two consumer watch dogs in Pakistan actively at work. You might want to consult them and proceed with legislation lobbying and other such effects to protect consumer interests if you feel that they are being compromised.
And yes - the little hatchies with swapped engines actually cut into the stuctural integrity of the frame and would flex like a shoebox and tear itself from the bulkhead and eventually spread out - some even had catastrophic damages and fatalities - that even involved destroying public property and loss of life. If you never came to know of such then it does not mean it did not happen.
--> I am an absolute believer of advancing arguments with hard facts alone. If you know of any reported cases where such "catastrophic" damage occurred due to structural failure, why don't you pursue legislation or legal forums to this effect?
and if you say the tucker had 6 bolts holding the body - then please check again (seen it first hand) - it was the first car in the world to have the ladder actually welded to the body - as the car was made to be structurally stiff compared to the ancient wagons of the norm when it was made. (first attempt to a unibody car) - and it never required body removal - it was built like that - just like you dont rip out the sills and pillars of a mehran to repair a door or floor
the 6 bolts you speak of were the rear cradle holding engine + trans to the car. It was not a part of the load structure - would our customs use the part no. of the cradle as chassis no?
--> I dug out the information related to the Tucker on the internet and there are links attached to the previous post. You might want to visit it and advise if perhaps I am misconstruing the situation. Experienced advice always helps and I would look forward to it from your end. Within the ambit of existing laws, Customs would use the cradle part number as the chassis number since we require an identifier for taxation purposes.
I still stand on my part of the customs acting oversmart on this issue - it should not try to micromanage it, Its job was treating the vehicle as goods, taxing it stupendously and passing it clear, it goes to regn and the story ends. If a car is being modified with parts that are "stealing" from the treasury of Pakistan - then the local excise should sieze or "ground" the vehicle - are the local excise, police etc that lazy or incompetant that they cannot handle this petty issue?
--> Customs is not micromanaging anything Xulfiqar. On the contrary, Customs is confiscating vehicles that are non customs duties paid or vehicles that are tampered to make them pass as taxed vehicles. The local excise has some defined jurisdication in this issue but as far as the collection of Cutsoms duties is concerned, it is purely a portfolio of Customs. There are specifically defined roles and responsibilities under the law that are being followed. As far as police is concerned, you might well know that there is an Anti Vehicle Lifting Cell in Police to deal with such issues. However, if the police recover a vehicle that did not have its customs duties paid, it is reffered back to Customs for applicable procedure.
Think about this as a collective issue rather than breaking it down - and if customs are so misinformed about motor vehicles then they actually need to form an advisory with actual useful people who can explain it in engineering and then the legal counsel can word it complete with fundamentals and derivatives
--> No branch of Customs anywhere in the entire world is responsible for vehicle safety Xulfiqar. Customs is an agency designed for economic frontier protection and in the case of certain developing nations such as Pakistan for revenue collection at the import stage. If you think that we should perhaps reinvent the wheel in Pakistan and force Customs to look after vehicle safety too, please pursue the legislative bodies to do so. Again, much talk and little action end up nowhere so concerte efforts on your part would be highly appreciated by millions of Pakistanis.
By your explaining of the terms it seems that the diction in the books needs to be rewritten or it needs revision with more explanations and subsections as it loops around or completely sways off - or English should not be the language used at all. (been there done that - even property documents in Pakistan are like swiss cheese from a legal point of view - everyone just "agrees" to them because it has been done forever)
--> Xulfiqar, it is common practice from around the world, and even in Pakistan to consult a good lawyer before venturing off into legal interpertation. Just as your driver cannot landscape your garden, similiarly you cannot just open up a book of law and start winning legal battles. You should seek good legal counsel and that should solve your legal problems without much distress or delay.
Not arguing for the sake of argument - if you feel that then Im pretty sorry to have wasted your time - I know nothing can change because I am just a ghost (Pak citizen) who thinks something is wrong - It may change if I were a "insert muscle force" here.
--> Xulfiqar, you are a free citizen of the state of Pakistan and can express your opinions in any fashion you so desire.
another example of frame being the unibody - the heavily smashed jap import cars customs are clearing are actually considered "scrap" in that country because of "frame damage"
roof caved in, floor buckled, firewall buckled are considered frame damage.
according to our customs - frame damage to a monocoque car is "someone tampering the chassis no."
lets take a simple example.
I buy a 230E benz (cheap POS) and then buy a few cutups of E320 in scrap and ship em legally and tax paid to Pakistan - I then build myself an E320 (would take a freakin long time) on the 230E monocoque - would I be kosher according to customs?
the price difference between both cars is 3X
--> Xulfiqar, you would be all "kosher" according to Customs as long as you pay the duties and taxes. The assessment of Mercedes in Pakistan is advised by Shahnawaz Limited and the provided assessment is taxed by Customs. If you feel this is wrong, again, please pursue some consumer watch dog for legislation or consult a legal forum for such remedy. I hope that your efforts in this regard achieve their objectives.
Hope this helps. Please feel free to put up any queries.
Fahad Bashir,
Assistant Collector, Pakistan Customs.