Customs reviews policy on uncustomed goods

The Immigration Department is not the first or last Government agency to be audited from within by the Audit Department. Indeed, a general audit is supposed to be conducted annually and special audits are done as the occasion demands. The Customs and Excise Department was a few years ago subject to a special audit as it relates to its operations for destroying and otherwise disposing of uncustomed goods, as it recently did with several cases of beer and cigarettes. Comptroller Colin Griffith detailed how the Department’s policy has been updated.

Colin Griffith, Comptroller of Customs

Colin Griffith

“The Audit Department was at Customs, I believe, a year and a half or two years ago, to look at how we deal with uncustomed goods, and to assist us in putting procedures in place to ensure that uncustomed goods are properly accounted for. We have looked at those recommendations and we continue to improve the management and disposal of uncustomed goods at Customs.”

In related news, Customs, like all other Government departments, is surrendering its information technology hardware to the Central Information Technology Office for management. In its case, the ASYCUDA system for managing Customs entries remains under the Department’s immediate management.