Customs Department celebrates Intl Customs Day
Customs Officers throughout the country took time today to celebrate International Customs Day. This year’s theme has particular relevance: Customs and the Environment: Protecting our National Heritage. And one way in which the department plans to go green is by eliminating most of the voluminous paperwork generated in their trade. Its Plans for the Customs Reform and Modernization Project were revealed at the open day at their headquarters on Caesar Ridge Road.
Jose Sanchez, Reporting
International Customs Day is celebrated yearly on January twenty-sixth but it is the first time activities are being held locally. Assistant Comptroller of Customs, Godfrey Arzu explains the reason for today’s open day.
Godfrey Arzu, Asst. Comptroller of Customs
“Customs Day is a day put aside by workers from the organization to recognize the contribution of officers worldwide towards global trade and protection of the supply chain.”
Jose Sanchez
“You say it’s the first time it’s celebrated in Belize?”
Godfrey Arzu
“It is the first time. As a matter of fact, we tried to celebrate it last year but we ran into some snafus. But it is appropriate that we celebrate it this year as last year was the year we officially became a member of the World Customs Organization and also we thought it important to kinda go on a public relation type of campaign whereby we become closer to the community, we try to impart information to the trading community and the Belizean public as a whole.”
Custom officers were on hand to showcase contraband, fake goods, and the services of the department. However, a major part of today’s celebration was to announce plans to upgrade the mechanisms it uses to do business with brokers and traders. Pete Castillo, the project’s director, gave an overview of the Customs Reform and Modernization Project, which will take all stakeholders into the electronic age.
Pete Castillo, Project Director C.R.M.P.
“Simplifying all the procedures all the processes and formalities and then getting the new software which will basically be the an online internet version. This is great news for Belize because it means now that the brokers, instead of Customs be putting all this information, the brokers can now input this information from their premises. As long as you have internet—in fact if you have a PDA—you will be able to access the systems. What it means for brokers is that now from their homes, without coming to office, they can present their Customs declarations to Customs. Customs walks in, look at the screen and see the entries that the brokers submitted overnight and can do any inspection that is required. We’ll be utilizing new procedures such as risk assessment. This risk assessment with tell us whether this entry or declaration that the broker posted last night can be cleared almost immediately or will require additional documents to be shown to Customs or may require that the inspection is done to a higher level or to a lesser level.”
The custom brokers themselves are also looking forward to efficient technology that will be void of pen and paper.
Delroy Fairweather, President, Customs Brokers Association
“What I’m looking forward to with the new system is the implementation of Customs will be doing their own internet base system and what we will be able to do; if you have a PDA type phone you can log in from that. It’s basically limitless to where we could actually get our jobs done.”
Jose Sanchez
“Some of the custom brokers are old school, they don’t know about computers. Are some of your members a bit hesitant about this?”
Delroy Fairweather
“Well, I don’t want to say they would be hesitant, but with proper training and a bit of persuasion I think everyone will fall in line because it will be a mandatory system. As I explained earlier, there won’t be any room for anyone to submit any declaration on pen and paper. It will have to be electronically and online. So what we are planning to do, we are planning to do a series of training workshops with the department, the modernization section, to basically enlighten them on the new changes. And like again, also for the brokers who you call “old school”, I think they will definitely fall in line when the time comes around.”
Reporting for News Five, Jose Sanchez.
