In a significant milestone for customs administration in the Caribbean, 66 students representing St. Vincent, Anguilla, Antigua, Jamaica, St. Lucia, and Montserrat participated in the Junior Officer Basic Course, organized by the Caribbean Customs Law Enforcement Council (CCLEC).

The course, designed to elevate the skills and expertise of customs officers, saw remarkable achievements. Led by industry experts, the program delved into crucial facets of customs administration, encompassing regulations, enforcement methodologies, and industry best practices.

Among the notable accomplishments were the conferral of three distinction awards, highlighting outstanding performance. Two of these prestigious honors were secured by participants from St. Vincent, with one student from Jamaica earning recognition.

An impressive passing rate of 80% further underscored the effectiveness of the intensive training regimen. Participants, drawn from diverse backgrounds, enriched the learning environment with their varied perspectives and experiences, engaging in interactive sessions to gain comprehensive insights into the intricacies of customs enforcement and collaborative strategies.

ROSEAU, Dominica — The Customs and Excise Division, together with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Agriculture, and Digitised Solutions Ltd., is thrilled to unveil the pilot phase of TradeStream – Dominica. The platform promises to be a game-changer, offering a multi-agency collaborative workflow that optimizes the import licence procedure and Plant Quarantine cargo inspection at Roseau, Dominica’s main cargo port. Further enhancing user experience, the platform integrates with the Government of Dominica’s online payment service to enable hassle-free payment of Customs Taxes and other services offered on TradeStream.

About the Multi-Agency Collaborative Pilot Phase:

The pilot phase is setting new benchmarks in efficiency and collaboration:

1. Import Licence Procedure for the Ministry of Trade: Streamlines the multi-agency application, review, and approval process for import licenses.
2. Plant Quarantine Cargo Inspection at Roseau Port: Accelerates cargo inspection and release by interconnecting various agencies involved in the process.
3. Integration with Government’s Online Payment Service: Facilitates easy online payment for Customs Taxes and services from other participating agencies, making the entire trade process more user-friendly and efficient.

The Montserrat Customs and Revenue Service wishes to announce the successful completion of a two-week period of attachment for Six Junior and Trainee Customs Officers and one supervisor with the Antigua Customs Division. The period of attachment ran from August 7th to 18th with the officers departing Montserrat on the 6th of August and returning on Island the 19th of August.

The Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority has switched to an online paperless travel declaration system, and from Friday, it will be mandatory for all passengers travelling to the island, including Jamaican nationals, to use the Online Passenger Declaration Form instead of the paper C5 form. Cayman Airways urged passengers to go online before flying this weekend as it will no longer give out paper forms.

“Passengers are strongly encouraged to complete this mandatory requirement online prior to their arrival at any of Jamaica’s international airports,” CAL officials said. “The online form can be completed up to 30 days prior to arrival.”

The new requirement is to help facilitate the efficient processing of passengers at Jamaica’s international airports, officials stated.

Cayman Airways currently operates daily flights between Grand Cayman and the Norman Manley International Airport (KIN) in Kingston and seasonal flights between Grand Cayman and Sangster International Airport (MBJ) in Montego Bay.

Credit : Cayman News Service

In observance of International Customs Day, the WCO’s theme for 2023 is “Nurturing the next generation: promoting a culture of knowledge-sharing and professional pride in Customs.” This theme is very relevant to the Customs fraternity in the region and the CCLEC is committed to working with member administrations to build capacity in keeping with this goal.

Customs is a complex organisation with multi-facetted functions and responsibilities that are often misunderstood and underestimated even by business leaders, government officials, and the general public. Most people tend to focus on the revenue collection role, which invokes emotional responses from those who are required to pay border taxes on importation. In this region, customs duties are relatively high compared to more developed and emerging countries, and in some instances represent over 50% of the annual revenue yield in some of our smaller economies. Governments have become very reliant on Customs and VAT for financing a major part of annual budgets. Notwithstanding the above, it is important to point out that the mission of Customs in today’s context includes a fiscal element (revenue collection) an economic element (implementing government policies), and a protection and security element (law enforcement and compliance). All three aspects are intrinsically linked to international trade. [1]

Those charged to perform the duties of a Customs officer must be well trained, knowledgeable of various legislation, regulations, directives, and administrative instructions. They must also be equipped with the necessary tools to effectively and efficiently carry out those duties.