Details
India jumps to 80th spot on World Bank’s indicator for seamless Trading Across Border
01-Jul-2019
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By Renni Abraham
India has notched up another feather in its cap for seamless international business facilitation, scaling up to 80th position from 146th position last year in the World Bank’s Trading across Border indicator.
Confirming this Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley (who addressed the 80th session of the Policy Commission of the World Customs Organization (WCO) through video conferencing) said, “Some key reforms initiated by Indian Customs have resulted in this quantum jump in the rankings for India. I thank the WCO for giving opportunity to India to hold the 80th Policy Commission in Mumbai, India.”
He also emphasized the role of customs in not only collecting revenues but also in other areas like safety, security and facilitation. The Finance Minister also highlighted the role of Customs in ensuring economic competitiveness of goods and services across the border and emphasized that countries must aim to minimize trade barriers.
The three day session, hosted by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC), is being attended by Customs heads of 31 countries from all the six international zones of the WCO.
Revenue Secretary, Ajay Bhushan Pandey in his address highlighted the importance of communication and a coordinated border management. He spoke about the need to have a balance between facilitation and enforcement and use of digitization and non-intrusive inspection.
Secretary General, WCO, Kunio Mikuriya emphasized that the Gateway of India was symbolic of “trade, travel and transport for seamless borders” which will coincidentally be the theme of next year’s conference. He emphasized the present era of knowledge based Customs and reiterated the Indian Finance Ministers vision of trade facilitation as a means of consumers satisfaction. He proposed that the WCO should transcend mere trade facilitation and also involve in protection of consumers and security, as this was important for economic competitiveness.
CBIC Chairperson, S Ramesh talked about the importance of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) and explained its implementation in India. Mr Ramesh appreciated the WCO’s theme for 2019 – “Smart Borders for Seamless Trade, Travel and Transport” and elaborated steps taken by the Indian Customs Department on issues of compliance and facilitation in tune with the same theme. He added that for the first time, India had followed suit with other nations by pledging Rs 5 crores fund for capacity building activities of the WCO.
The Policy Commission seminar will discuss various policy issues of WCO and outcomes of various working groups and committees that were set up. Related topics will be debated by all the participating countries on global cross border issues including Trade Facilitation, Security Initiatives, Performance Measurement, Combating Illicit Financial Flows, Small Island Economies and Free Trade Zones.
Indian Customs has been playing a very active role in the WCO and conducting of Policy Commission in Mumbai will give a boost to the image of the country on the global platform.”
“By Renni Abraham
India has notched up another feather in its cap for seamless international business facilitation, scaling up to 80th position from 146th position last year in the World Bank’s Trading across Border indicator.
Confirming this Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley (who addressed the 80th session of the Policy Commission of the World Customs Organization (WCO) through video conferencing) said, “Some key reforms initiated by Indian Customs have resulted in this quantum jump in the rankings for India. I thank the WCO for giving opportunity to India to hold the 80th Policy Commission in Mumbai, India.”
He also emphasized the role of customs in not only collecting revenues but also in other areas like safety, security and facilitation. The Finance Minister also highlighted the role of Customs in ensuring economic competitiveness of goods and services across the border and emphasized that countries must aim to minimize trade barriers.
The three day session, hosted by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC), is being attended by Customs heads of 31 countries from all the six international zones of the WCO.
Revenue Secretary, Ajay Bhushan Pandey in his address highlighted the importance of communication and a coordinated border management. He spoke about the need to have a balance between facilitation and enforcement and use of digitization and non-intrusive inspection.
Secretary General, WCO, Kunio Mikuriya emphasized that the Gateway of India was symbolic of “trade, travel and transport for seamless borders” which will coincidentally be the theme of next year’s conference. He emphasized the present era of knowledge based Customs and reiterated the Indian Finance Ministers vision of trade facilitation as a means of consumers satisfaction. He proposed that the WCO should transcend mere trade facilitation and also involve in protection of consumers and security, as this was important for economic competitiveness.
CBIC Chairperson, S Ramesh talked about the importance of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) and explained its implementation in India. Mr Ramesh appreciated the WCO’s theme for 2019 – “Smart Borders for Seamless Trade, Travel and Transport” and elaborated steps taken by the Indian Customs Department on issues of compliance and facilitation in tune with the same theme. He added that for the first time, India had followed suit with other nations by pledging Rs 5 crores fund for capacity building activities of the WCO.
The Policy Commission seminar will discuss various policy issues of WCO and outcomes of various working groups and committees that were set up. Related topics will be debated by all the participating countries on global cross border issues including Trade Facilitation, Security Initiatives, Performance Measurement, Combating Illicit Financial Flows, Small Island Economies and Free Trade Zones.
Indian Customs has been playing a very active role in the WCO and conducting of Policy Commission in Mumbai will give a boost to the image of the country on the global platform.”
