Wignal

The Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Association of Jamaica (CBFFAJ) is pleased to note the speedy and amicable settlement reached between Jamaica Customs and the informal commercial importers (ICIs) with regards to the dispute over the department's decision to cease the use of the C78X Form for the valuation and clearance of imported goods.

The meeting between Commissioner Danville Walker, other senior officials from Customs and a delegation from the ICI sector led by 'Mama Christie' underlines our belief that the most effective way to narrow the divide between Customs and disgruntled sectors of the importing public is through dialogue. What was also evident and probably contributed to the speedy agreement was the fact that both parties were not far apart in their demands.

Facilitates corruption

In his continuing drive to stamp out corruption, Commissioner Walker has publicly declared, "The current system facilitates corruption, aided and abetted by some corrupt creatures called broker agents, corrupt customs officers and corrupt importers."

The decision by Customs drew the ire of the ICIs and triggered a demonstration which resulted in an emergency meeting held on July 18 at Customs House to discuss the concerns of all parties and arrive at a resolution. While the commissioner indicated then that his decision to adjust the existing procedure would not change, subsequent discussions among the gathering have resulted in the Customs Department agreeing to accept invoices from the ICIs, conditionally, for the next six months. One major condition is that they will not submit any "ridiculous valuations".

Commissioner Walker urged them to be responsible in this regard as the usual act of underinvoicing of goods must cease. He ended the meeting by encouraging the representatives to "police" their sector and warned that he would not hesitate to return to very strict valuation verification if there was no significant improvement.

Donovan Wignal is president of the CBFFAJ.