The United States on Friday opened its first customs office in the country with a view to check, among other things, smuggling, money laundering and shipment of weapons of mass destruction to America.
Inaugurating the office at the American Centre in New Delhi, Charge d' Affairs of the Embassy Robert Blake said the office will provide Indian exporters with information about tariff and customs procedures and would work with law enforcement authorities here to prevent smuggling and other forms of organised transnational crime like money laundering, trade fraud and violation of export control regulations.
Observing that the Indo-US bilateral ties have seen a transformation under the leadership of US President George W Bush and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Blake said the two countries will "work to enhance global integration through trade, investment, shared technology, and improved communications."
The office, which will be the regional centre in charge of Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives too, will also work towards combating terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, organised crime, and drug and human trafficking, he added.
The office has undertaken a container security initiative to prevent placement of weapons of mass destruction in containers and their shipment to US and elsewhere, Customs Attache at the new office, James Dozier, said.
An air cargo security system and a mutual customs agreement is also on the agenda, he added.
An Indian customs office is already functioning in New York City.
