Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao and Customs officers took part in the International Customs Day celebrations on Friday, which was based on the theme SMART borders for seamless trade, travel and transport.
Prachi Saroop, Commissioner, Mumbai Customs Zone 1, said, “SMART stands for secure, measurable, automated, risk management-based and technology-driven. This will give the WCO [World Customs Organization] member countries the opportunity to showcase their efforts and activities in these areas. Mumbai Customs will imbibe WCO’s chosen theme to achieve greater heights in performance, delivery and efficiency.”
‘Focus on performance’
Vijay Singh Chauhan, Additional Director General (Vigilance), Western Zonal Unit, said, “Ease of doing business and trade facilitation has helped us recognise it is possible for the Customs to re-engineer and re-orient our style of working and focus on more efficient measuring of our performance. The automated work environment has been the biggest enabler in facilitating trade. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has provided us with a robust IT backbone that we are all proud of.”
The event was also attended by industry specialists who shared their views and expectations from the Customs Department. The single window concept introduced by the Customs House was appreciated for focusing on reducing interface with the government and reducing dual time cost.
Prashant Deshpande, partner, Deloitte Haskins & Sells LL, said, “As India prepares to enter the global manufacturing value chain, these elements of cost reduction and time sensibility are very important. Also, the risk-based management system depends on exception-based intervention.”
Dr. Pramod Sant, vice-president, head of import and export of Siemens Ltd., stated that security, measurability, automation and technologically driven systems are the way ahead.
Investment in AI
Banibrata Bhattacharya, Chief Commissioner, Mumbai Customs Zone 1, said, “We have a combination of systems which is headquartered in New Delhi. Our investment in artificial intelligence is huge. We conduct regular workshops at our training institutes in Nashik for our trainees.”