ADDIS ABABA – The Ethiopian Custom Commission disclosed that it has seized over 2.4 billion Birr worth contraband goods in the just ended Ethiopian fiscal year.
Commissioner Debele Kabeta told Ethiopian Press Agency that through coordinated contraband protection efforts, the commission has seized a total of 2.435 billion Birr worth contraband goods at fourteen custom checkpoints across the country. Of which over 2.14 billion Birr accounts for goods to be illegally imported while the remainder 293.9 million Birr goes to the illicit export over the last Ethiopian fiscal year.
The contraband goods are apprehended in different custom check pints of the country. The 1,027 suspects are detained.
The performance of apprehending import contraband goods exceeded the previous year’s performance by 842.8 million Birr or by 64.9 percent while the figure showed a decline in terms of smuggling goods out of the country. Thus, the apprehended goods in this regard reported to worth 293.9 million which registered a 12.2 percent decline compared to the previous year which was reported to worth 334.8 million Birr.
Last Ethiopian fiscal year, over 1.633 billion Birr worth contraband goods were seized. This budget year’s performance has shown increment by 801,961,938 Birr or 49.1 percent, he noted.
As to him, having set a target 113.99 billion Birr revenue to expand the country’s finance capacity, the commission collected over 104.92 billion Birr revenue or 92.4 percent of its plan over the 2012 budget year of the country.
Although the revenue collected over the last just-ended fiscal year is less than 9.7 billion birr or 7.96 percent of its plan, but it has increased by 26.31 billion Birr or 33.47 percent compared to 78.61 billion Birr collected during the same period, he underlined.
The Ethiopian Herald July 30, 2020
BY TSEGAYE TILAHUN
