MANU/CUST/0091/2018

Ministry : Ministry of Finance

Department/Board : CBEC Customs

Instruction No. : 17/2018-Customs

Date : 15.10.2018

To

All Principal Chief Commissioners/Chief Commissioners of Customs,
All Principal Chief Commissioners/Chief Commissioners of Customs (Preventive),
All Principal Chief Commissioners/Chief Commissioners of Customs & GST,
All Principal Directors General/Directors General,
All Principal Commissioners/Commissioners,
Webmaster, CBIC

Madam / Sir,

Information regarding guidelines for handling and storage of valuable goods that are seized/confiscated by the Department.

Attention is invited to Board's Instruction dated 01.12.2015 on the above mentioned subject. The Central Vigilance Commission, while discussing the reports of theft/replacement/pilferage of gold at various formations, had made the following observations:

"A system to be put up in place by using specific tools (such as bar coding, tagging, etc.) for handling the seized gold so that theft/pilferage can be prevented".

2. To implement the said directions, a Multi-Disciplinary Committee was constituted by the Board. The said Committee has made the following recommendations:

i) The packages containing the valuables should be bar coded so as to ensure correct inventorisation and tallying of packages at the time of handing over/taking over etc. The 'e-malkhana' system of Delhi Customs could be adopted by other formations.

ii) The access to Strong Rooms/Valuables Godowns is restricted to only authorised officers. An Intelligent Key Management System may be put in place where authorised officers can access the keys only after biometric verification. This system should include a feature to ensure that the keys can be accessed only when CCTV system is in activated mode. This would create an electronic record of all transactions and strengthen accountability.

iii) The seized goods are sealed in containers after weighment and arranging for purity. The weight of seized goods is recorded in the seizure Panchnama/Mahazar but the gross weight of the container is not recorded. Sealed containers cannot be........