At the invitation of the Chair of the Indian Central Board of Excise and Customs, Ms. Praveen Mahajan, Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya visited Kolkata, India on 9 and 10 October 2013 to discuss transit and other matters of mutual interest.

Ms. Praveen Mahajan welcomed the Secretary General to the oldest Custom House in India and stressed Kolkata’s importance as a transit hub for neighbouring countries, including Bhutan and Nepal, to further enhance regional connectivity. Her senior staff, together with the Chief Commissioner of Kolkata Customs, Ms. Kameswari Subramanian, former chair of the WCO Permanent Technical Committee, explained the current transit arrangements and discussed the future direction of regional cooperation with the Secretary General.

Secretary General Mikuriya visited the Bhutan Customs Liaison Office in Kolkata, which provides Letters of Guarantee issued by the Royal Government of Bhutan for transit purposes. He observed and discussed the Customs transit arrangements in place. The Secretary General also paid a visit to the Port of Kolkata’s Netaji Subhash Dock to hear about transit practices from Customs, port operators and transport operators and to gain a glimpse into one of the busiest trade hubs for container operations in South Asia.