THE Fiji Revenue and Customs Service investigated four cases regarding vehicle smuggling rackets involving 13 vehicles in 2019.
FRCS chief executive officer Visvanath Das said: “We uncovered the modus operandi being used is accident and insurance written-off vehicles purchased and the same number plates and road worthiness are used on illegally imported vehicles”.
Mr Das said there was a greater need to establish a holistic approach to overcome challenges in protecting borders, revenue collection as well as facilitating legitimate trade and travel.
He said this was a challenge for all Customs administration.
He made the statement after the conclusion of the Sub Regional Workshop on Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy (IPR) and Cargo Targeting System training at the WCO Regional Training Center at Fiji Revenue and Customs Service (FRCS) last week.
“The cargo targeting system (CTS) is one such tool that will enable us to track any risks entering our borders,” said Mr Das.
“The CTS is a World Customs Organization (WCO) tool to assist the implementation of risk management in countries that require it. “It enables targeting of import, export, transit and transshipment cargo across the full range of Customs risks.
“Another main objective of this workshop is to provide relevant stakeholders with an overview of the country-specific best practices and legislation in the domain of counterfeiting and piracy and to create a favourable environment for the sharing of experiences on a variety of topics which includes distinguishing between authentic and fake product and how to distinguish the risk analysis techniques; a methodology which operational units of Customs administrations employ to target high-risk consignments and which has resulted in an increased numbers of seizures in member administration,” he added.
According to the statement by FRCS the Sub Regional Workshop on Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy (IPR) was attended by delegates from Papua New Guniea, Samoa, Timor Leste, Tonga, Vanuatu and Fiji.
It was funded by the Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB), while being supported by the Japan Customs and the World Customs Organization.
