The Commissioner-General of the Guyana Revenue Authority, Khurshid Sattaur has said that effective from Monday, February 8, all commercial goods imported into the country are being examined while the GRA’s cameras are recording.

These examinations are being done at the various GRA Customs locations in order to ensure transparency and to detect false declarations submitted by importers, a news release from the Commissioner-General said yesterday.

Many prominent members of the private sector are resisting this new measure, since they offer rewards to customs officers in order to cheat the system, the release said.   And these allegations have resulted in the implementation of this new system which is being used in many developed countries and allows for compliance with the customs laws, the release added.

This system also requires that payments be made on all entries for which declarations have been made by the importers in  order to circumvent collusion  between importers and customs officers, and to expedite the clearance of goods.

Meanwhile, for transparency, importers are required to obtain from the GRA’s Senior Manager or Manager, Wharves, advice in writing on the  status of the examination process or whether the goods have been flagged at a rate of 50, 75, or 100 percent or whether any examination is needed before goods are released.

The Risk Profiling module in the Total Revenue Inte-grated Processing System (TRIPS) is used to determine  the level of examination to be conducted.

GRA said further that it is committed to working with businesses to ensure that goods are cleared in a transparent and timely manner and to promote compliance with the various customs regulations.