DG: Demerit Points System bearing substantial results
KUCHING: The Demerit Points System which has been implemented by the Royal Malaysia Customs Department (JKDM) since April 1 this year is bearing substantial results as 12 local forwarding agents might lose their licence for “knowingly” shipping in contraband goods into the country.
JKDM director general Datuk Seri Subromaniam Tholasy said the demerit system was the last straw for the department in dealing with unscrupulous agents.
“Under the demerit system, there is a know-your- customers policy which makes it a responsibility of each agent to know the background of their customers,” Subromaniam said at a press conference held at the JKDM state headquarters here yesterday.
He believed it is quite impossible for forwarding agents to not know what is in their shipping containers – unless they are in cahoots with smugglers by falsifying their declarations.
Subromaniam further said without the know-your-customers
Under the demerit system, there is a know-your-customers policy which makes it a responsibility of each agent to know the background of their customers. Datuk Seri Subromaniam Tholasy, JKDM director-general
policy the department would normally hit a brick wall during their investigations as the address and contact information of the owner of the contraband goods would most likely be false.
“Which is why suspending or revoking the licence of these forwarding agents under the demerit system is the best step to take,” he added, hoping that the 3,000 other agents in Malaysia would learn a lesson from the case of the 12 local forwarding agents facing suspension and possible revocation of their licence.
He revealed that among the top contrabands being smuggled in the country were tobacco and alcoholic products, resulting in a big loss in taxes to the government.
The department had identified Vietnam, Cambodia and China to be the main countries of origin of contraband cigarettes brought into Malaysia, he added.
He also said JKDM had enhanced their operations at each shipping port in the country, especially in Port Klang, Selangor which he described as the main hotspot, to combat smuggling. Besides dealing with tax leakage, the demerit system, he added, could also be used to enhance the country’s security as false declaration of goods would automatically see the licence of a forwarding agent suspended or revoked.
“What if the shipping container holds a bomb but the agent declares it as something else? We (JKDM) will not compromise on this,” he added.
He said industry players had been warned against making false declarations and their performance would be evaluated in a more systematic way to determine their compliance level with the legislation and policies that had been set by the department.