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Thiruvananthapuram: The protocol section has informed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Customs that the UAE Consulate had sought permission 11 times to bring in goods from abroad with duty exemptions.
Permission was sought during the period from 2016 to 2018. No permission was sought after 2018, according to the protocol section.
Most of the requests from the Consulate were for bringing in vehicles. Six such requests were made. Permission was also sought for home appliances, sanitaryware, and edible items such as dates.
Dates were reportedly brought in to be distributed in various schools of the state.
The details of the official who sought exemption and the official who sanctioned this were handed over along with the signatures of the diplomatic officers, as per the demand of the probe agencies.
As per the protocol, the permission of the state protocol officer is needed for duty exemptions while importing goods with a value of less than Rs 20 lakh. The permission of the Ministry of External Affairs is needed for items priced above Rs 20 lakh. If the duty exemption is not needed, then the protocol section's permission is not required.
The protocol section gives a verbal note to inform the Consulate that exemptions have been permitted. Then the respective officers need to fill in the forms 7, 8 and 9 and submit these to the protocol section.
After the protocol officer signs the forms, these are handed over to the Customs. The details of the imported goods should be clearly mentioned in the form. If the car is being brought in from aboard with duty exemptions, then details such as the price and model should be informed to the protocol section. Left-hand drive vehicles are not given permission.
A multi-agency probe was initiated after the Customs seized 30kg gold from a diplomatic baggage addressed to the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram last month. The Union Home Ministry had directed the NIA to take over the probe.
