BIRGUNJ: The use of letters of declaration is decreasing at Birgunj Customs Office in recent periods.

The use of a letter of declaration has decreased by 24 percent in 11 months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.

A total of 181,461 letters of declaration were used in the 11 months of fiscal year 2078/79 BS while only 138,172 declaration forms were used during the corresponding period of the current fiscal year 2079/80 BS. It was less than 43,279.

Information Officer at the Birgunj Customs Office, Ram Chandra Sharma Dhakal, shared that the use of the letters of the declaration was less by 23 percent from the red channel, 20 percent from the yellow channel, and 34 percent from the green channel during the 11 months of the current fiscal as compared to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.

The use of declaration forms has decreased following the decrease in the import of goods via Birgunj checkpoint and it has made a negative impact on revenue collection, he mentioned.

The Department of Customs had set a target of collecting Rs 237 billion in revenue during 11 months of the current fiscal year.

The office has collected only Rs 142 billion which is less than 40 percent.