In the weekly newsletter dated 08/07/2024 from Chairman Sanjay Kumar Agarwal of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs, significant updates were shared. The newsletter highlighted the success of the recent “Har Budhvar GST Vat” initiative by NACIN Bhopal, focusing on trade-friendly measures discussed during the 53rd GST Council Meeting. It commended the team for facilitating productive GST webinars that promote continuous learning and stakeholder engagement. Additionally, notable achievements in anti-smuggling efforts were noted, including a case at Delhi International Airport where gold bars were seized from a passenger who had disguised their illicit goods by declaring a luxury bag. Another case at Chennai International Airport involved the interception of hundreds of baby Iguanas, highlighting efforts to combat wildlife trafficking.
Weekly newsletter from Chairman, CBIC dated 08/07/2024
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs
DO No. 28/News Letter/CH(IC)/2024 Dated: 08th July, 2024
Dear Colleague,
The 125th episode of the “Har Budhvar GST Vat’ initiative of NACIN Bhopal was conducted last week and was centred around the trade-friendly measures taken in the 53rd GST Council Meeting. I had occasion to give introductory address in the webinar. Such webinars lead to continuous learning and dialogue in the realm of GST and have garnered much appreciation among stakeholders. I congratulate the entire team and wish them continued success in facilitating relevant and fruitful discussions on GST-related topics.
On the anti-smuggling front, an excellent case was booked by Customs officials at Delhi International Airport on the basis of spot profiling. A passenger, upon arrival, declared a brand new Louis Vuitton Bag valued at Rs. 2.5 lakh to pay customs duty at the customs red channel. The passenger calmly paid the applicable customs duty at the red channel and proceeded towards the green channel. However, the officer at the red channel counter noticed a suspiciously high frequency of foreign travel of the pax and was, therefore, intercepted by the Customs officers after he had crossed the green channel. On examination of the belongings, 04 rectangular bars of gold weighing 5.409 Kgs were recovered. The pax had deliberately paid duty on Louis Vuitton bag to ward off suspicion of carrying gold. All credit goes to the vigilant officers for their timely interception!
Based on the intelligence developed by the officers of Air Intelligence Unit at Chennai International Airport, a passenger was intercepted. On examination of the check-in baggage, 2 boxes containing more than 400 different coloured baby Iguanas were recovered. While 335 alive Iguanas were departed to the country of origin, the rest had unfortunately died during their illegal journey. All of these Iguanas fall under the Appendix-I 86 II of CITES and Schedule-IV of the Wild Life Protection Act, 1972. Great work in rescuing the vulnerable species!
Until next week!
Yours sincerely,
(Sanjay Kumar Agarwal)
All Officers and Staff of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes 8s Customs.
