New Delhi, May 29: Finance Minister P. Chidambaram will inaugurate the two-day All-India Annual Conference of the Chief Commissioners and Directors General of Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) here today.

The conference will commence with the performance appraisal of the department in key areas such as revenue collection, enforcement, trade facilitation, and the opportunities and challenges before the department followed by a session on the status of automation initiatives in CBEC and the expectations from the field formations in this regard.

It will also deliberate upon measures to raise compliance level in service tax as well as issues relating to Special Economic Zones (SEZs).

There will be a session on recent developments in international customs, which cast obligations on customs administrations.

Other important issues such as the current trends in smuggling and commercial frauds, department's preparedness in terms of equipments to meet these challenges, dispute resolution, and human resource development will also be discussed.

Minister of State for Finance (Revenue) S. S. Palanimanickam will preside over the valedictory function on May 30. (ANI)