The Royal Malaysian Customs Department has collected RM54.867 billion in revenue for the first nine months of this year, the Finance Ministry said.

Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Lee Chee Leong attributed the success to the determination and hard work of Customs officers at all levels.

"From the enforcement aspect, 566 cases were solved involving tax amounted to RM489.63 million due to continuous operations.

"I believe the department will continue to play an important role in thwarting smuggling to prevent revenue leakages," he said when launching the Malaysian Royal Customs Department Encyclopedia project here today.

Lee described the encyclopedia as very relevant in enlightening the public on the function of the department.

Meanwhile, Royal Malaysian Customs Department Director-General Datuk Seri Khazali Ahmad said the encyclopedia would be published by the Association of Former Malaysian Customs Officers (Perbekas) and the Ex-Malaysian Customs Officers Cooperative (Kobekas) and launched in six months' time.

He said the content of the encyclopedia was ready for editing.

On the Goods and Services Tax, he said the total collection this year until Tuesday amounted to RM29.5 billion.

"We are confident of achieving a GST collection target of RM39 billion for 2016 provided people pay. That is why we are going after those who do not pay," he said.