Inaugural address by Mr. Pranab Kumar Das, Special Secretary & Member (Customs), Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC), Government of India.
Jaipur, November 15, 2018: Mr. Pranab Kumar Das, Special Secretary & Member (Customs), Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC), Government of India gave an inaugural address at the World ATA Carnet Council (WATAC) Meetings being held in Jaipur between November 15-16, 2018. Mr. Rajeeva Swarup, Additional Chief Secretary – Industries & CMD, RIICO Ltd., Government of Rajasthan, Mr. Sandeep Kumar, Principal Additional Director General, Directorate General of Analytics and Risk Management (DGARM), Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC), Government of India & Mr Satish Kumar Reddy, Consultant, ADB addressed the event.
This is the second global event on ATA Carnet to be organized in India. Mr Das interacted with the international and national delegates who were in Jaipur for the meetings. The delegates included Mr. Ruedi Bolliger, Chair, World ATA Carnet Council (WATAC), Paris & Executive Director, Alliance des Chambres de commerce suisses, Switzerland, Mr. Henk Wit, Deputy Chair, World ATA Carnet Council (WATAC), Paris & ATA Carnet Manager, Netherlands Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Netherlands, Mr. Peter Bishop, Deputy Chief Executive, London Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Mr. Declan Daly, Senior Vice President & CFO, United States Council for International Business (USCIB), senior representatives from state associations, Mr. Nirankar Saxena, Deputy Secretary General, FICCI and sMr. Randhir Vikram Singh, Co-Chair, FICCI Rajasthan State Council.
The meetings discussed the promotion of ATA Carnet System in India and the neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal.
ATA Carnet is an internationally accepted customs document used by members of the exporting community from India, to travel abroad with commercial samples for participating in an exhibition/ trade for or for a business promotion tour. The ATA Carnet System operates under international customs conventions administered by the World Customs Organization (WCO). The Council is made up of representatives from all 78 countries where carnets are issued and accepted. In India, FICCI is the sole National Guarantor for ATA Carnets.
The event drew participation from World ATA Council (WATAC) Secretariat, 44 representatives from 78 ATA member countries, Industry etc.
The prime objectives of the event are:
• To improve Ease of Doing Business in India through use of ATA Carnets.
• To discuss and review the practical operation of ATA Carnet System in member countries.
• To create awareness amongst Indian exporting fraternity about the benefits of ATA Carnet system.
• To enhance Customs-Business Partnership.