Customs dept wants FPOs to be automated to check smuggling

New Delhi, Jul 10 () The customs department has asked the Department of Posts to completely computerise the Foreign Post Offices in the country in order to check smuggling through FPOs. The matter came up for discussion at a recent review meeting after it was noticed that people were misusing the FPOs to smuggle in various prohibited goods and evade import duty, official sources said today. Also Read: Customs dept wants FPOs to be automated to check smuggling Duly filled-in Customs Declaration form is mandatory for each and every outward International Mail item The customs officials expressed concern over the functioning of FPOs where most of the work is done manually without adequate staff. In the national capital, the FPO is situated about 25 km away from the airport and all the parcels coming from abroad are brought there without proper scanning, they said. An effective mechanism to cross check the parcel, its contents and details of duty paid is also not in place, the sources said. Taking note of the situation, the customs department recently wrote to Department of Posts asking it to ensure complete computerisation of the FPOs. "We have asked the postal department to automate all the processes at FPOs. We have also asked them to consider providing adequate working space and logistics for smooth working," said S R Baruah, Commissioner (Export) at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) here. The move came after the customs officials recently seized air rifles, pistols, narcotics, memory cards and cigarettes among others from the FPOs. These items were misdeclared as clothes. On an average, 5,000 parcels (booked through speed post and registered) in export, and 3,500 parcels in imports, are handled per day at the foreign post office here.There is always the apprehension that smugglers would try to exploit the lacunae in the functioning of FPOs as the work process is manual. Most of the illegal things may happen when the parcels are in transit after landing at the airport and being taken in government vehicles to FPO in the ITO area, the sources said.