DUSHANBE, January 19, Asia-Plus – In 2006, Tajik customs officers revealed 3,446 instances of violation of the country’s customs legislation, Nuriddin Mahmadov, deputy chief of Tajik Customs Service, announced at a news conference in Dushanbe on January 19.
According to him, the revealed cases included 19 drug-trafficking crimes, 14 attempts of smuggling consumer goods, etc.
“Last year, customs officers intercepted 28.7 kilograms of drugs,” said the Tajik customs official, “Besides, some 68 other kilograms of drugs were seized in operations carried out by the customs service in cooperation with other law enforcement agencies of the country.”
In 2006, the customs service imposed fines in a total amount of 1.28 million somonis for violations of the customs requirements.
On the collection of customs duties, Mahmadov said that the customs service transferred 649.4 million somonis to the country’s budget last year, which is 8.1 percent more than it was originally planned. The target for 2006 had been determined at 600.6 million somonis, according to him.
Concerning an external trade turnover of Tajikistan, Mahmadov said that the country’s external trade turnover in 2006 amounted to $3.4 billion. This consisted of the country’s exports estimated at $1.4 billion and its imports worth $2 billion. The customs official noted that over the past five years, the country’s external trade turnover has increased 10-12 times.
Mahmadov noted that last year, 14 customs officers were arrested on suspicion of having been involved in corruption. “All of them were amnestied in connection the country’s law on amnesty,” the customs service deputy chief said. “The corruption problem exists and we try to resolve it with using international and our own experience,” Mahmadov said.
