Govt to deploy Armed Police Force at DoC

The government has initiated process to deploy a team of Armed Police Force (APF) at the Department of Customs (DoC) in Kathmandu to step up coordination between security forces and customs officials to check cross-border smuggling and revenue leakage.

So far, the government has deployed around 700 armed police personnel at different customs offices across the country. However, their operations have largely proven ineffective due to weak communication and coordination between customs officials and armed police personnels.

"The new team to be stationed at the DoC will work to bridge this gap," said a source.

Under the fresh arrangement, Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) will soon station about 40-50 armed police personnel at the department under the command of a superintendent. "This unit will ensure proper flow of information between customs officials and security agencies and coordinate their actions," said the source. If required, the team will also serve as reinforcement for field-level action.

The MoH took steps to deploy the APF team mainly at the request of the DoC. The government in the budget for 2011/12 has also promised to mobilize additional APF personnel at DoC and Revenue Investigation Department (RID) to check cross-border illegal trade by setting up effective mecahnism to coordinate security personnel and revenue officials.

First month revenue collection Rs 7.43b
DoC has reported that its revenue collection during the first month (mid-July to mid-August) of this fiscal year stood at Rs 7.43 billion. The collection was well above the target set for the month, which was Rs 6.93 billion.

"The revenue grew mainly because we could revise customs reference prices on time and strictly enforce of customs declaration at all major customs offices," said Tanka Mani Sharma, director general of the DoC.

According to Sharma, revenue collections of Tatopani and Mechi customs exceeded target by 41 percent and 38 percent respectively during the month. Customs office at Tribhuwan International Airport too collected 10 percent more over the target, while collections of Birgunj customs exceeded target by 20 percent.

"All the customs offices, except for Biratnagar customs, have reported collection above the target. In Biratnagar, we missed the target by about Rs 80 million because of closure of customs offices for few days and decline in trade through the customs point," said Sharma.

The government has set a target to collect customs revenue of Rs 100 billion in 2011/12.