This month, the customs officials at Nhava Sheva Port have successfully managed to intercept at least three consignments that have originated from Pakistan and were instrumental in duty evasion worth crores of rupees by mis-declaring country of origin. The consignments included dry dates and melting scrap, agency officials said. India had hiked the basic customs duty (BCD) on all goods imported from Pakistan to 200 percent in February 2019, after it had revoked the most favoured nation status it had given to Pakistan, following the Pulwama attack.
Speaking about the cases, an official from the Special Investigation and Intelligence Branch (SIIB) (Import), said that this week, on receipt of specific input, the customs officials had intercepted twelve 40 feet containers containing 342.72 metric tonnes (MT) of dry dates. "Preliminary probe had revealed that the consignment had originated from Pakistan but the origin declared by the importer was of United Arab Emirate (UAE). The said Containers were found with packing material showing Pakistan origin. The estimated duty evasion in this case is Rs 2.5 crore. Goods originating from Pakistan are liable for duty at 200% BCD," the official said.
"On December 08, the SIIB (Import) officials, on specific input, intercepted one 40 feet container that was containing 27 MT of dry dates originating from Pakistan. In this case too, the country of origin declared was UAE. The said container was found to have been transshipped at the port of Jebel Ali in UAE on its arrival from Pakistan with packing material having been manufactured in Pakistan. On December 02, on specific inputs the customs officials had intercepted five containers of melting scrap with mis-declaration of country of origin. The consignment was found to have originated in Pakistan with consequent duty liability of Rs 4.30 crore," the official said.
Apart from these operations, the customs officials had Nhava Sheva in two separate cases, had managed to intercept two containers, one of them too was involved in duty evasion, while the other container contained red sandalwood that was being exported to UAE.
On December 14, the customs officials had intercepted one 20 feet container found to contain parts of toys used in electronic toys. The estimated duty evasion in this case was to the tune of Rs. 64 lakhs. On Friday, the Customs officials at the Nhava Sheva port had seized a consignment containing red sanders or red sandalwood worth Rs 15 crore value in the illicit market. The officials had intercepted one 20 feet container of Red Sanders totaling 15020 kilograms. The said consignment was meant for export to UAE with declared good "Empty Glass Bottles 90 ml."
