'When I say customs area, I clearly look at two different silos' says Nirmala Sitharaman at GCCEM 2023

New Delhi [India], October 30 : Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman, participated in the Global Conference on Cooperation in Enforcement Matters (GCCEM) 2023, where she emphasized the importance of achieving significant progress in the realm of customs enforcement.

In her address, Sitharaman highlighted the need to differentiate between two key aspects of customs enforcement, focusing on both facilitation and prevention.

She stated, " We are not going to see considerable achievement or progress in the customs area and when I say customs area, I clearly look at two different silos not necessarily silos but I put them in two different compartments".

Regarding the facilitation aspect, she underscored the necessity of enhancing the ease of trade and streamlining the movement of goods in international trade.

She also acknowledged the alignment of businesses and governments in promoting a more efficient and effective trade environment.

Sitharaman said, "One is the facilitation so that ease of trade is brought in, goods movement is facilitated and we are able to have well streamlined international trade but that anyway today businesses wanted, we wanted so all of us would work towards it is a step which I would think is happening almost by default but ofcourse by now and then we have to increase the level of the default functioning".

She added, "But the most important silo which I want to talk about and I keep preferring it to a silo but not to mean that it is so watertight that we can not have things shared from it and into it, is the prevention and deterrence".

However, she emphasized that continuous efforts were required to elevate the current operational standards.

Minister Sitharaman then shifted her attention to the prevention and deterrence aspect of customs enforcement. She expressed the significance of preventing illegal trade, smuggling, and activities that infringe upon a country's sovereign authority.

In her address, she elaborated on the need for deterrence, a concept that strengthens customs enforcement through vigilance and commitment.

"Prevention of illegal trade, prevention of smuggling, prevention of those which are not tolerable for any country sovereign authority and in prevention deterrence is now a word which I would like to add almost you would say mean the same but no deterrence is also strengthened by the fact that you alert, you have held back some of these smuggle goods and you show dedication and commitment to completely destroy what you have caught and not again put it into the market in one or the other way even though it may be legitimate. So prevention and deterrence is that particular area in which I would think this global conference on cooperation and enforcement matter should give a lot of workable ideas", stated Sitharaman.

Sitharaman emphasized that this global conference on cooperation in enforcement matters should serve as a platform for generating innovative ideas, particularly in the area of prevention and deterrence.

She noted the importance of exchanging knowledge and experiences to combat illegal trade effectively.

The conference is expected to facilitate productive discussions on various aspects of enforcement matters, ultimately aiming to enhance customs enforcement at the global level.

It serves as a significant platform for international cooperation and exchange of best practices in customs enforcement, which will benefit not only individual countries but also the international trade community as a whole.

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