Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman addresses during the inaugural session of the Global Conference on Cooperation in Enforcement Matters 2023 in New Delhi, Monday.
Credit: PTI Photo
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday launched the fourth phase of ‘Operation Sesha’ to curb illegal trade of timber, especially red sanders, and asked customs authorities to use technology to nab ‘big fish’ in illegal cross-border trade.
Operation Sesha was first launched in 2015 to bust organised syndicates of smugglers of precious woods. Under this initiative, the directorate of revenue intelligence of Indian Customs works in collaboration with probe agencies of several other countries to curb illegal trade of timber. The name Sesha has been derived from Seshachalam forest in Andhra Pradesh, bordering Karnataka
Sitharaman launched the initiative at the Global Conference on Cooperation in Enforcement Matters organised by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence in consultation with Brussels-based World Customs Organisation (WCO).
The Indian customs department will run the fourth phase of Operation Sesha in collaboration with WCO’s Regional Intelligence Liaison Offices (RILOs) in Asia-Pacific and Middle-East.
Addressing the inaugural session of the three-day event, Sitharaman called upon international agencies to cooperate in curbing the menace of illegal trade and bringing back antiques to their respective countries.
“Customs authorities should share information among themselves to curb the network of illicit trade. More importantly, the information shared should be actionable,” she said, adding that there should be free flow of intelligence information on smuggling and authorities should take strict action on the same.
The Finance Minister said there is a growing need to have legislative and legal frameworks aligned among global economies, that don’t contradict each other.
“I place a lot of emphasis on intergovernmental cooperation, along with WCO so that we are able to crack the brains behind it (smuggling), the masterminds behind it, with the help from local authorities and governments,” the minister said.
Sitharaman underlined that the major goods traded illegally are precious metals, narcotics and precious reserves from forest and marine life. This has not changed for the last 50-60 years.
“There are no newer areas on which the customs authorities are baffled. If this is the way it is showing a trend over the decade, by now most of us should be fairly informed of who are the forces behind it,” she added.
Addressing the event, Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra noted that the fast-evolving modern digital world has blurred the boundaries of the countries. This has created a daunting challenge for enforcement agencies across the world, Malhotra added.