…if Chamber, Customs plan works
The seasonal difficulties experienced by businesses seeking to expedite customs clearance for goods during the Christmas season could be significantly reduced this year if recent discussions between the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) and the Customs and Trade Administration (CTA) hold good.
Stabroek Business has learnt that the GCCI and the CTA are seeking to limit to a maximum of five days the amount of time between the arrival of goods at ports in Georgetown and their release to importers.
This newspaper spoke with GCCI President Chandradat Chintamani on Tuesday shortly after he met with CTA Head Chabilall Ramsarup and learnt that the two had reached an understanding “in principle” that the CTA would be seeking to limit the amount of time that an importer had to wait to take receipt of goods imported during the Christmas period. “If the understanding that we have reached holds good it will be a significant achievement since some importers have been known to wait several weeks to have their goods released from customs, Chintamani said.
But the GCCI President said that the CTA Head had made it clear to him that the success of the understanding depended upon, among other things, the transparency of the importer. “One of the things that the CTA is seeking is complete transparency on the part of the importer since when transactions are found to be less than transparent delays naturally occur in the process.
Chintamani said that he believed that there are cases of under-invoicing and other importer transgressions that delay the processing of importers while conceding that “a case can also be made for collusion by Customs functionaries in “complicating the process.”
Stabroek Business understands that the CTA would be seeking to ensure that importers meet the various administrative requirements associated with the importation of goods. “What we have established with the CTA is that they are prepared to work with importers using copies of documents e-mailed ahead of the arrival of the goods until the original documents arrive,” Chintamani said. He added that arising out of his meeting with Ramsarup the Chamber will ensure that the business community is made aware of the understandings reached with the business community.
