Ready to go

Following what could only be described as a turbulent transition from ASYCUDO ++ to ASYCUDO World last month, which resulted in weeks of disruption in shipments in and out of Barbados, the Barbados Port Inc. is revealing that not only have they cleared up their backlogs, but they are also declaring readiness for the rush of the Christmas season.

This morning Managing Director of the Barbados Port Inc David Jean-Marie told Barbados TODAY that based on the last report that he has received, the new paperless platform was functioning well and shipments were being processed faster than ever before. In fact, the head of the port is confident, “barring any unforeseen issues,” that this Christmas season could go down as one of the more smoother flowing ones, as it relates to shipment clearances at the Bridgetown facility.

“We are surpassing the delivery levels of pre-ASYCUDO world. I would say that we are doing even better than we were before and in fact we are ramping up efforts in anticipation of the rush that would accompany the Christmas season. It is my expectation that things should be smoother this season than ever before but as you know there are a number of agencies operating within the port, but we will do all that we can to facilitate trade,” said Jean-Marie.

Since switching to the new paperless platform on September 9, Customs had been plagued with several issues in the weeks after. Newly appointed Comptroller of Customs Owen Holder had promised at the time that it would have taken the Customs and Excise Department one more week to iron out any kinks it had encountered in upgrading its system from ASYCUDO ++ to ASYCUDO World. For weeks businesses cried out for relief from the bottleneck created in the system. Among them was Mount Gay Distilleries, whose Managing Director, Raphael Grisoni, told Barbados TODAY last month that a 400,000-bottle shipment, intended for Europe and the United States had been stuck in the port for over two weeks. This prompted Minister of Small Business, Entrepreneurship and Commerce Dwight Sutherland to make an appeal for patience from the business community, promising that the gains from implementing the new platform will be well worth it in the end.

However, this morning Jean-Marie revealed that based on the reports which he has received from Customs and judging from the unhindered manner in which the process was now flowing, those issues appear to be in the rearview mirror. He noted that while importers may still have a few hiccups in the process, the problems are not usual as a result of either the customs or port systems

“From what I have been told, we have returned to pre-ASYCUDO world levels and as a matter of fact, in terms of delivery, we are surpassing those numbers. The backlog has been addressed and we at the port have set up a number of committees which we have been meeting with regularly,” Jean Marie said.

He added: “We have also been meeting with the agents and customs brokers as well as the top importers in the country, so as to solve any challenges that they have been facing. What we have discovered is that any problem that is still occurring is not system related, not customs related and certainly not port related, but we still ensure that they are resolved immediately.”

However, Vice President of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) Anthony Brancker told Barbados TODAY that while things have certainly settled down since the initial ASYCUDO world upgrade, he would not go as far as to say that normalcy has returned to the port.

“What I can tell you is that the challenges vary and I cannot put my finger on any one issue, but the business community is still experiencing some challenges at the port. We still find ourselves having to seek intervention from persons at a higher level. We have had improvements, but we are still not there yet, the flow is not as consistent as one would want. I don’t think they are system problems but sometimes you may have issues with the stakeholders at the various points of the process. We are aware that the Comptroller of Customs had to add resources to some places where there were bottlenecks,” said Brancker.

With regards to expectations for shipment clearances for the Christmas season, the BCCI vice-president said that businesses were aiming to have their shipments cleared by early November and they were hopeful that the new system would have “settled down” even more by then.

“We are anticipating a bright Christmas season and we are hoping that the majority of our products would come through by November. So we are hoping that by the beginning of November the ASYCUDO world and the supporting systems at the port would have settled down even more,” he said

Barbados TODAY made several attempts to reach the Comptroller of Customs for comment but was unsuccessful.

However Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn told Barbados TODAY that he did not anticipate any major delays this Christmas season as a result of further teething problems. He revealed that problems still being experienced were linked to agents and customs brokers having not upgraded their systems to be compatible with ASYCUDO World.

“No I do not see it impacting the Christmas season because we did the upgrade in September specifically so that any teething issues are worked out well in advance to the Christmas rush. So obviously November is now going to be a critical time for items coming in. Once the private sector continues to engage customs, I don’t anticipate major delays,” he said.
colvillemounsey@barbadostoday.bb