At the invitation of the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGoB), a delegation led by Mr.P.K Mohanty, Director General of Inspection, Customs and Central Excise, Government of India (GoI) visited Bhutan for verification and finalization of the Excise Duty Refund claim of RGoB for the years 2013 from 21st to 29th November, 2014. The Bhutanese delegation was led by Mr. Yonten Namgyel, Director, Department of Revenue and Customs.

A meeting between the delegates of RGoB and GoI to discuss and finalize the Excise Duty Refund amount was held on 28th November 2014. The total excise duty refund agreed for the year 2013 is Nu.1, 756,296,502 (One Thousand Seven Hundred Fifty Six Million, Two Hundred Ninety Six Thousand, Five Hundred Two)

The Royal Government of Bhutan, with the help from Indian Embassy in Bhutan received Nu. 2,038,535,819.00 (Two Thousand, Thirty Eight Million, Five Hundred Thirty Five Thousand, Eight Hundred Nineteen) from GoI in May 2014 as the Excise Duty Refund Claim for the year 2010.

The decrease of Nu. 282,239,317 in the Excise Duty Refund Claim for the year 2013 as compared to that of EDR Claim for the year 2012 was mainly due to the ban of imports. However improvement of proper record keeping attributed to significant increase in the claim over the years.

The refund of excise duty is made only on excisable commodities imported from India. Although most of the commodities are subject to levy of excise duty in India, however, there are specific exemptions issued by way of notifications by GoI on goods of special interests. Furthermore, since imports made by Hydro Power Projects in Bhutan are exempted from excise duty at source, no excise duty refund claims are made for the imports made by these projects.

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His Excellency the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bhutan in Brussels, Mr. Sonam Tshong, deposited his country’s instrument of accession to the International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures (Revised Kyoto Convention – RKC) on 15 September 2014, making the Kingdom of Bhutan the 96th Contracting Party to this Convention.

The RKC is the international standard for making Customs regulatory procedures as efficient and effective as possible. The Convention elaborates upon several important principles, including transparency and predictability of Customs actions; standardization and simplification of the goods declaration and supporting documents; simplified procedures for authorized persons; maximum use of information technology; minimum necessary Customs control to ensure compliance with regulations; use of risk management and audit based controls; and coordinated interventions with other border agencies.

The WCO Secretary General welcomed Bhutan’s accession which demonstrates the country’s commitment to implementing Customs procedures adapted to the international trade environment and efforts towards trade facilitation aiming to respond effectively to the challenges faced by Customs in the 21st Century.

The RKC will enter into force for the Kingdom of Bhutan on 15 December 2014.

The Secretary General, Mr. Kunio Mikuriya, strongly urges the other WCO Members to accede to the RKC as soon as possible.

source: WCO (www.wcoomd.org)

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The World Customs Organization’s Secretary General, Kunio Mikuriya, called on the Prime Minister, Tshering Tobgay, at Gyalyong Tshogkhang today.

The WCO established in 1952 is an apex intergovernmental body which aims to enhance efficiency and effectiveness of the customs administration throughout the globe.

Lyonchhen and the Secretary General discussed on expanding information and communication technology, improving human resource development and setting up business friendly economic competitiveness.

A press release from the Prime Minister’s Office says since its membership, Bhutan has been receiving substantial technical support and training services from WCO. Bhutan joined WCO in 2002.

“The significant support and training services provided by WCO was greatly valued,” said the Prime Minister. The discussion also touched upon economic reforms and technological changes to promote transparency and accountability in customs administration.

The Prime Minister and the Secretary General also talked about harmonising and simplifying customs procedure to simplify the progress of legitimate trade across national boundaries and encourage public and private sector to work together.

Lyonchhen also congratulated Kunio Mikuriya for being re-elected for the second consecutive term. Mr. Mikuriya, accompanied by the Head of the Asia Pacific Regional Capacity Bureau of Bangkok, Yoshi Hiro Kosaka is on a two day goodwill visit.

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Lyonpo Namgay Dorji led the RGoB delegation to attend the 47th Annual Meetings of the Board of Governors of the ADB held in Astana, Kazakhstan from 2-5 May 2014.

The Hon’ble Finance Minister is the Governor on the Board of ADB. The theme of the meeting was “The Silk Road – Connecting Asia with the Changing World” and was chaired by H.E Mr. Erbolat Dossaev, Finance Minister of Republic of Kazakhstan. The meeting was attended by about more than 3,000 participants from ADB’s 67 member countries, including representatives of government, multilateral financial institutions, private sector, central banks, civil society, academia and media.

ADB’s annual meetings are statutory occasions for Governors of ADB members to provide guidance on ADB administrative, financial, and operational directions. It provided opportunities to the Governors to call on the President, interact with ADB’s senior management and other Governors.

On the sideline of Annual Meeting, the RGoB delegation also attended the 8th Informal Meeting of SAARC Finance Ministers on 3rd May 2014.

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