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Container release: Report calls for disciplinary action against Customs officers
View(s):An internal inquiry should be held and disciplinary action taken against Customs officers who allegedly ignored recommendations made to conduct physical inspections on a stock of high-risk ‘Red’-labelled containers after scans had detected uncertainties regarding the contents and quantities inside, says an investigation report.
The report was compiled by a four-member committee that probed the release of more than 300 containers allegedly without Customs inspection from Colombo Port last January. The committee headed by Deputy Treasury Secretary A.K. Seneviratne observes that 309 containers, including red-labelled containers, had been released in January without subjecting them to a physical inspection by Customs.
The investigation committee has noted that 37 of the 151 red-labelled containers had been released without being scanned, despite the protocol mandating scan inspections as a minimum requirement before bypassing physical inspection. This omission meant that the minimum risk confirmation—that no suspicious or prohibited goods were contained—could not be established. Even among the 114 scanned “red” containers, notes by the scan officers indicated the presence of “density variations” and a mixture of goods. As such, given uncertainties regarding the contents and quantities found in some of those containers, the officers had recommended further investigation through a physical inspection. These recommendations had been ignored.
Accordingly, the investigation committee has recommended an internal investigation and appropriate disciplinary action against officers who released the containers, ignoring recommendations for further investigation.
It has also been revealed that prior to the January 18 operation, a committee of Customs officials appointed to ease congestion that affected the port from July 2024 had met 13 times, releasing a total of 2,218 consignments, including 999 “Red”-flagged and 1,219 “Yellow”-flagged consignments without physical inspection since July 2024. Therefore, this process was not a one-off occurrence limited to 18 January 2025, but rather a continuing practice initiated mid-2024, the report has further added.
(See Political Column on Pages 12 and 13 for further details.)
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