IRD and CUSTOMS open up christmas containers.

The Supervising Permanent Secretary of Finance and Treasury, Shadrach Fanega confirmed today that a joint operation between Inland Revenue and Customs officials was in progress at the Honiara port.

The Coral Chief docked on Wednesday, fully laden with some 420 containers of goods destined for the Christmas trade. Officials will be inspecting selected containers to ensure their contents match those on the declarations provided by the Importers. They will be checking to ensure the value of each item, the quantity and also the items found within the container have been properly declared.

“With a significant amount of Government revenue collected through Import duties and Goods tax which are collected at the Port, it is crucial that we have checks in place to ensure Importers are doing the right thing” Supervising Permanent Secretary Fanega said.

“This is the second year Customs and Inland Revenue have jointly inspected containers arriving in Honiara for Christmas. Such activity is part of our normal compliance operations.

“While we believe that most people do the right thing, under the tax and customs legislation if goods have been improperly declared, they may be confiscated and the importer may face hefty penalties,” Mr Fanega commented.

The operation is expected to conclude by Tuesday of next week.

Alfred Maesulia
Director
Government Communications Unit