Vivek Johri has been the new chief commissioner of the Jawaharlal Nehru Customs House (JNCH) since July 2017. The customs house has the record for the highest revenue collection in the country.
As chief commissioner, Johri is the head of Mumbai customs Zone II, and has jurisdiction over all the customs-related work of the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, and the Nhava Sheva and Raigad districts of Maharashtra. He exercises administrative control and supervision over both the import and export commissionerates of the JNCH. He also supervises the functioning of the commissioner of customs (appeals) of Mumbai customs Zone II and reports directly to the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), Ministry of Finance.
Johri joined the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) (customs and central excise) in 1985. After completing his probation, he was posted as Assistant Commissioner at the New Customs House, Mumbai. Ever since, he has held charges both in the field as well as at the CBEC.
A large part of Johri’s career has been spent in CBEC’s Tax Research Unit. In the Tax Research Unit, he has worked in various capacities, ranging from a Technical Officer to Joint Secretary. During these stints, he has been involved in the preparation of as many as 16 Union budgets. He has also handled work relating to tariff negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) as well as several preferential and free trade agreements.
Between 2012 and 2016, he was posted as Minister (Customs) at India’s permanent mission in the WTO in Geneva. Prior to his transfer to Nhava Sheva, he was principal commissioner of customs at the Air Cargo Complex in New Delhi.
Johri has a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Delhi as well as an MBA from the Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia. He has also participated in a training programme on fiscal and monetary policy conducted by the Ministry of Finance, Japan.
In the course of his career, Johri has been conferred with a number of awards and accolades in recognition of his hard work and achievements. He was awarded the Finance Minister’s Gold Medal for the best probationer of his batch. In the year 2000, he was also conferred the Presidential Award for a distinguished service record.