26-Aug-2011 | 15:30 IST | Edited by: Vishal Bagaria

The Finance Ministry of India has assented to a novel green strategy for the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) based on which officers shall be trained for regulating export and import of environmentally sensitive goods.

The official statement stated that the strategy made formal a concept paper, 'The Greening of Indian Customs', that contained a plethora of legal, enforcement and administrative measures to ensure that "the department's core functions were sensitive to the environment."

The new strategy has also made mandatory the role of the Customs and its premier intelligence agency, Directorate Revenue of Intelligence in executing multifaceted environmental agreements [Basel Convention, Cartagena Protocol, CITES, etc.] apart from cital domestic laws [Customs Act, 1962, Environment Protection Act, 1988], according to the statement.

In order to attain the objectives of the strategy, the department officers shall be trained in monitoring international trade in environmentally sensitive goods. Besides, an important agenda herein is acquainting officers of DRI and Customs to improved detection of environmental violations, creating a database and ejection of crucial environmental information.

The eco-strategy has detailed guidelines laid down, for the protection of officers from hazardous substances by providing radiation detection kits, dematerialization of documents and elimination of paper documentation, promotion of web-based communication and development and implementation of green standards for infrastructure.

As per the official, the CBEC laid stress upon the fact that apart from adding to a cleaner environment, decisions of reducing documentation etc. would serve the objective of trade facilitation by reducing transaction costs.

External Links:
Official website of the Ministry of Finance

Official website of the Ministry of Environment and Forests

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