More than 30 forwarding agents face licence suspension
PORT KLANG: More than 30 forwarding agents may have their licence suspended for various offences under the Customs Act 1967, says Customs Department director- general Datuk Seri Subromaniam Tholasy.
He said the errant parties were found committing violations such as falsifying Customs receipt, incorrect declaration and declaring goods as not dutiable or low duty when they were carrying goods with high duty such as liquor and cigarettes.
“Nonetheless, before we suspend their licence, the forwarding agent concerned will receive a show- cause letter earlier next week and will be given two weeks to state why their licences should not be withdrawn,” he told a media conference which was also attended by Selangor Customs director Datuk Sarip Ismail here yesterday.
Subromaniam said the time had come for the department to tighten enforcement of regulations following the actions of some forwarding agents in contributing to the black economy in the country.
He said they could not give the excuse of not knowing the consignment or following the order of the importer or exporter as Customs had given all forwarding agents the notice to carry out due diligence or Know Your Client ( KYC).
“They are responsible for ensuring the authenticity of the importer or exporter as we do not want an incident when explosives are declared as other goods. We are putting the onus on them to know the importing or exporting companies as they are dealing directly with them. — Bernama