Customs

Tonga Supreme Court convicts passenger carrying undeclared money

Qian Xiyun failed to declare to Customs that he was carrying more than TP$10,000 of currency.

He was scheduled to fly out to Fiji.

Kaniva News reports Qian originally pleaded guilty to the charge and elected trial by judge alone in relation to other charges. Clive Edwards appeared for him at trial, which began on 18 March 2019.

At the start of the trial, Edwards said he would argue that the accused had wrongly pleaded guilty to an offence the Crown could not sustain in law.

Tongan companies investigated for importing goods under false name

The Ministry of Customs says it is treating the “matter very seriously” and it continues to closely monitor similar illegal activities.

The Ministry’s CEO Kulufeinga Anisi Bloomfield said last evening he would not go into details as the investigation “is still in progress”.

“Will advise you as soon as everything is finalised”, he said according to Tonganow Online.

The investigation comes after customs officers uncovered incidents of companies importing goods under what it described as “alternate” or “incorrect company names”.

Solomons crackdown on smugglers

Earlier this month customs intercepted a number of undeclared goods.

The new operation at the Honiara International Seaport is going on intelligence that a number of importers are attempting to smuggle, under declare or undervalue their goods.

The Minister of Finance and Treasury Snyder Rini said examination activities of this magnitude were challenging but he believed in the dedication of the officials involved and he is confident they would ensure importers were complying with duties and tax payable to the crown.

Tonga Govt to begin E-project aimed at protecting borders

He made the statement during Thursday’s program to mark World Customs Day with the theme “Data Analysis for effective border management. “

DPM Sovalevi says we are living in a rapid moving world and globalization and movement of people is a challenge for small island states like Tonga where illegal activities are on the rise.

Radio Tonga reports this is due to lack of capabilities and funding for expertise and sufficient resources.

Tonga Customs collects 10 million pa'anga in December

The amount is said to be the highest collected for December in the past five years.

The revenue is derived from goods imported from overseas.

CEO of the Customs, Mr Kelemete Vahe said December is a busy month with festivities and Tongans bring many goods from abroad.

He said most of the goods are food and mainly red meat.

Mr Vahe expressed gratitude to people for not adding difficulties to the tasks of Customs officers by importing illegal goods.

He said there were no illegal firearms, drugs or other illegal items.