Team Herald
VASCO: The Commissionerate of Customs, Goa celebrated International Customs Day, at Custom House, Harbour Port-Mormugao, on Monday.
International Customs Day is celebrated every year in commemoration of the day in 1953 when the inaugural session of Customs Cooperation Council was held in Brussels, Belgium.
Dr E Ramesh Kumar, IAS, Chairman, MPT was the chief guest. V Soundararajan, Commissioner, CGST, Goa also graced the occasion. The guests were welcomed with a potted flower rather than artificial bouquet to mark the ecofriendly practices within the Customs Department.
The theme for this year’s International Customs Day is the contribution of Customs towards a sustainable future where social, economic, health and environmental needs are at the heart of our actions with the slogan “Customs Fostering Sustainability for People, Prosperity and the Planet”.
The Commissioner of Customs Mihir Ranjan briefed about various aspects of the WCO theme and urged the officers to understand their role and social impact of their day to day actions thus ensuring the sustainable development of our nation.
Chief guest Dr Kumar in his address touched upon the importance of inter-departmental coordination and mentioned the huge share of revenue that Customs is contributing to the economy.
Guest of honour Soundararajan spoke on the role of Customs from trade facilitator to protector of Indian Coastal lines along with Coast Guard.
Commissioner of Customs presented mementos to the top exporter M/s JSW Steel Ltd and top importer M/s Vedanta Ltd. Other Customs brokers who have contributed well in the previous financial year were also appreciated.
Certificates were also presented to the Customs officers who have done excellent work in the previous financial year. Mahabir Singh Meena, Joint Commissioner of Customs delivered the vote of thanks.
