Question : Smuggling through Foreign Post Offices

(a) whether the custom officials in the country have expressed concern over the functioning of the Foreign Post Offices (FPOs) and urged the Government to completely computerize FPOs to check smuggling;

(b) if so, the details thereof and the reaction of the Government thereto;

(c) whether instances of smuggling of banned and restricted items in parcels through FPOs have come to the notice of the Government;

(d) if so, the details thereof including the number of such cases reported during each of the last three years; and

(e) the corrective measures taken by the Government to curb this illegal practice in an effective way?

THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS &
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(SHRI MANOJ SINHA)


(a) & (b) A joint task force of the Department of Posts and Department of Customs has been formed to discuss various issues faced by both the Departments in functioning of FPOs. Further, the Department of Posts and Customs are collaborating to implement on pilot basis, SECUREX (Security and Customs Related Electronic Exchange of Data) project which has been developed by the Universal Postal Union along with World Customs Organization. This project will enable Department of Posts and Customs to exchange data electronically in advance which will assist in risk management.
(c) Yes.
(d) The details are placed in the table below:-
<pre>
Period Restricted Items (No. of cases booked) Prohibited items (No. of cases booked)
2015-16 1440 657
2016-2017 2413 1373
2017-2018 (upto Feb’ 2018) 1829 495
</pre>
(e) The Department of Customs has installed 17 X-ray scanning machines at the FPOs to scan foreign parcels. In case of suspicious items 100% examination is carried out. The customs department is also in the process of procuring 15 scanning machines to strengthen the examination process in the FPOs.