MACC, customs dept to set up special task force

 MACC and customs department heads met today to discuss matters such as mechanisms to curb leakages in container management.

MACC chief commissioner Abd Halim Aman (left) and customs director-general Amran Ahmad during the latter’s visit to the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya today. (MACC pic)

PUTRAJAYA:

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the customs department have proposed establishing a special task force to monitor enforcement and tax collection at the country’s strategic ports.

MACC chief commissioner Abd Halim Aman said the proposal was discussed during a courtesy call by customs director-general Amran Ahmad to the MACC headquarters here today.

“Both agencies also exchanged views on challenges in carrying out their respective duties, particularly in customs inspection procedures and bureaucratic challenges,” he said in a statement today.

The one-hour meeting also served as a platform for bilateral discussions on the customs department’s roles and functions, including mechanisms to curb leakages in container management under the department’s jurisdiction at ports nationwide.

In the same statement, Amran also shared details on syndicates’ tactics to evade tax payments, including smuggling and the falsification of information or documents submitted under different approvals.

He said the customs department had also detected a modus operandi involving false declarations of cash, whereby the amount brought into the country was declared at a significantly lower value than the actual amount.

Amran said the department welcomed MACC’s anti-corruption awareness sessions, which he hoped would instil a stronger culture of integrity among its personnel. - FMT