New Delhi, May 12 (KNN) The first ever Joint Conference of Indian Customs and Department of India Posts was held at Vigyan Bhavan on May 11, 2018 to deliberate on smooth-functioning of imports and exports by post.

To cater the SMEs and boost Make in India program, Customs are proposing new simplified procedures for exports through India Post.

In a progressive move, Amazon and DHL had been invited for making presentations on global best practices and identifying bottlenecks faced by exporters in India.

Speaking at the conference Dr. Pritam Banerjee, Director (South Asia) from DHL said “From a private sector perspective, it was great to see customs and posts coming together to find solutions for Indian e-commerce.”

Chief Commissioner of Customs, Sunil Sawhney, said that improvement in infrastructure at Foreign Post Offices and leveraging strengths of postal department’s pan-India outreach can unlock massive export potential.

To make the system more robust and sound, Customs is planning some of these initiatives on the back of introducing non-intrusive technologies like x-ray scanning at Foreign Post offices to expedite release of goods.

These measures are also likely to control smuggling of narcotics, as evidenced from the recent seizure of 300,000 tablets of psychotropic substances.

In order to strengthen law enforcement, Customs will scan mail bags at the airports itself for identifying suspect consignments and contraband items.

One of the major bottlenecks identified in the Postal System is the absence of Professional Logistics Companies which can facilitate SMEs going global through online presence and leaving postal logistics to third parties.

Commissioners of Customs from all the States having Foreign Post Offices (FPOs) were present along with their counterpart Post Master Generals during the Conference.

Imports and exports by post are the 6th highest cited citizen grievances under CPGRAMs. Customs and Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) have worked together since a year to liberalise, reform and align laws relating to imports by Post. (With PIB Inputs) (KNN Bureau)