Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman calls for inter-governmental cooperation to fight menace of illegal trade and smuggling

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has called for inter-governmental cooperation to fight the menace of illegal trade and smuggling. In her address at the Global Conference on Cooperation in Enforcement Matters in New Delhi yesterday, Mrs. Sitharaman said global networking, actionable information sharing and exchange of best practices should be fostered to deal with the challenges. She said, there is a need to crack the brains behind the illegal trading network. 

She further added that it is the duty of the government and enforcement agencies to restore confidence in the minds of citizens that illegal activities and illicit trade will be caught and deterred. 

Talking about the methods to combat illegal trade, Mrs. Sitharaman said legislative and procedural steps should be taken by all countries which should align with each other to foster streamlined international trade and progress. She added, prevention and deterrence are two key pillars to combat the menace of illegal trading. The three-day conference which began yesterday was being organized under the aegis of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence and Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. The conference is based



on the theme- It takes a network to fight a network.

Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary said that the need to make policies in enforcement matters as one global community aligns with the vision of India’s G20 presidency. He further added, there is a need to create cutting-edge software to enable seamless information sharing. Mr. Chaudhary said countries should take the resolve to come together and end smuggling completely to give a bright future to the world.

Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra, said that it is imperative that law enforcement organizations engage in collaboration, joint operations and intelligence sharing. He further added, the need to combat the menace of smuggling is certainly recognized but focus on trade facilitations for global welfare is also vital.

Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs chairman, Sanjay Kumar Agarwal said that the digital world calls for international cooperation and readiness to overcome threats. He further added Global trafficking is worth dollar 650 billion which raises grave concerns. Collective effort is required to defeat the transnational syndicates.