Critical customs reforms ten years late

One of Government’s main reform agenda items under the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) programme is on course to completion, says Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn.

His declaration came on Tuesday as he announced that the new Customs Bill, which seeks to reform the law on customs and repeal the Customs Act, Cap 66, will help to modernize the Customs Department and bring about much needed change.

He said that the Bill will make it easier for Government to collect critical data in order to implement future policies regarding importation, but warned residents that in order for this to be effective they should be honest in the information they were providing.

Speaking in Parliament, Straughn said the Customs Department had reached a point where it was badly in need of reform due to a lack of leadership at the political level prior to the Mia Mottley administration taking office.

“This Government brought the kind of leadership that was required at the time with respect to, not just the Customs Department, but the country,” he declared.

“This is just one critical element, but one of many – 41 specifically identified reforms for customs that really and truly needed to be implemented ten years ago,” he said.

Thanking the officers in the Customs Department for stepping up to the plate, Straughn explained that the new Bill will ensure greater trust on the side of the department, the private sector and all other stakeholders.

“I can report to the country that a lot of the concerns that were raised as it relates to security, have been addressed both at the Bridgetown Port as well as the airport. And to the extent that the department now is in a position to mine some of the data with respect to what has been collected, the intelligence gathering capability of the department certainly has been enhanced,” he said.

“I believe that Barbadians can feel a little more comfortable that this government responded very quickly to be able to put the various pieces of infrastructure in place to allow the Customs Department as well as the law enforcement agencies to address that very critical matter of public safety with respect to illegal guns,” he reported.

Straughn also pointed to the improvement in training and staffing at the ports of entry, pledging that government would continue to pursue an “aggressive training” regime as younger people joined the department and more technology was incorporated.

He noted that the new legislation, which carries fines of up to $100,000 for certain infringements, should help achieve 100 per cent compliance.

“The reforms within customs forms part of the overarching strategic policy for how we reposition Barbados as a trans-shipment hub, but equally to provide opportunities to make it as easy as possible [for the exportation of goods] . . . So in a real sense, we are on the road with respect to the reforms of Customs,” he added.

Acknowledging that there was still a lot of work to be done in reforming the government department, Straughn thanked the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the government of Canada for their technical support over the past two years.

One of the structural reforms under the four-year IMF-funded austerity programme involves the Customs Department. The IMF had called for more accurate risk assessment and a more modernized and efficient customs department that includes more services being done online

Straughn also announced that the Trusted Traders programme that was implemented as part of the IMF requirement for reforming the Customs Department was completed with some 23 companies taking part.

This programme, which was established in March 2020 and met the IMF structural benchmark by June the same year, was designed to enhance business and trade facilitation with customs and allow for greater efficiency while facilitating low-risk trade.

“This [the Customs Bill] I believe, is a start with respect to one of the very critical things in relation to the modernization of customs,” said Straughn.
(MM)