Customs dept puts gold, 8 more items under controlled delivery regulation

The customs department has issued controlled delivery regulations authorising officers to track suspicious consignments of items, including gold, precious stones, drugs and cigarettes.

The move, an official said, is aimed at checking smuggling and to trace the real culprit.

As per the Controlled Delivery (Customs) Regulations, 2022, a customs officer at the ports can earmark both export and import consignments for controlled delivery on "reasonable belief" that it is "suspect".

The list of items under the regulation are narcotic drug and psychotropic substances; gold, silver in all forms, precious and semi-precious stones, liquor; currency; cigarettes, tobacco; wildlife products and antiques.

As per the regulations, the customs officer can, if needed, install tracking devices to monitor the movement of suspect consignment.

According to a gold industry expert, this regulation can be applied to any movement by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence or other agencies like ED, which they anyways do now.

He further said this notification will in no way impact or affect the trade and businesses.

This is also being done now because gold imports are rising and there are chances of increase in smuggling, the expert added.