Today 26th January, 2009, the Customs and Excise Division of the Commonwealth of Dominica joins the global customs community in celebrating International Customs Day. It is a day set aside by the World Customs Organisation to recognise the work done by Customs and Excise Divisions and Customs Officers in contributing to national economic and social development, facilitation of global trade and security of territorial borders.
Let me therefore take this opportunity to congratulate our own Customs and Excise Division and our Customs Officers in particular, for their efforts in providing quality service to the people of Dominica.
I have been advised that the theme chosen by the WCO for the observance of International Customs Day is “Customs and the environment: protecting our natural heritage” and while this may have some significance to Dominica, we have decided to focus on our ongoing reform programme with the theme “Customs Reform: A Journey Together”.
Government is fully supportive of the reform and modernization of Customs and considers it a priority area in the thrust to improve our trade competitiveness. We have to date invested significant time and finances in seeking to ensure that the reform process goes smoothly and quickly.
We have invested in the migration to ASYCUDA World and this gives us the opportunity to become the first English speaking Caribbean country to successfully implement ASYCUDA World. This we hope will become the cornerstone on which new procedures and processes can be implemented that will transform our Customs into a more competent and innovative organisation, capable of delivering quality service to all of its clients. This part of the project has also created opportunities for training and development of staff.
We will focus on automating most of our processes and making use of the available technology to improve service delivery. We have reorganized the organizational structure and, where necessary, increased the number of supervisory staff to ensure that at all times adequate supervision is given for all our services.
The services of a Director have been contracted to guide the overall reform process. I take this opportunity to express the gratitude of the Government and people of Dominica to Mr. Claude Paul who has accepted the challenge to help us move the process forward.
This is a change process – one that many persons and institutions have requested – but more so, it is a process that we ourselves have determined is necessary.
The global economic environment is not sympathetic to those of us who are reluctant to respond and adapt to changing circumstances. But change must be meaningful. It must go beyond lip service and actually make a noticeable difference. This is the challenge that I set for all Customs staff in Dominica. I say to embrace this opportunity to make this change meaningful for Dominica.
I will not give the impression that what is required of us is easy. I am aware of the many challenges. Challenges which include - but are not limited to - more up-to-date technology to improve surveillance, possible inadequate numbers of staff, the need for continuous training and the like. But I might ask; which organisation has all the desired tools and conditions for operations? I daresay that if there are any, they are few and far between.
In such circumstances, what differentiate those who are successful from those who are not are the effort, hard work and commitment which those who are successful have exhibited. I therefore acknowledge that there is still a long way to go and many hurdles still to overcome before we can declare the reform a success. But we have started and I trust that you will make the contribution necessary to ensure that we succeed.
Forward Planning must be seen as an important prerequisite for embarking on this journey. Indeed our plans must include a strategic outlook and must take into consideration the rapid changes taking place around us including the impact of the EPA, the effects of the global financial crisis, the deepening of the integration processes in the OECS and the CARICOM and the escalation of crime and violence in the societies of the region. While some of these may be viewed as serious threats, we must either turn them into opportunities or take steps to minimize their adverse effects on Dominica and the rest of the region.
Government will therefore continue to give its support to this bold endeavour by Customs. But the other players including the private sector, the brokers, DASPA, other government agencies, the Police and others must work together with the Customs to bring the meaningful change we seek as a nation.
Let me state for the record that this Government appreciates the efforts being made by the Customs and Excise Division. The office building we are about to open today was transformed from an old warehouse into a modern facility, housing the most up-to-date and state of the art computer equipment on the market. This is truly symbolic of the transformation that must take place to bring the Customs and Excise Division up to international standard.
I believe that the officers have the capacity to do what is required and with the support of Government and others, I am confident that this change programme will be a total success.
In fact, I was proud to learn that sometime last year Dominica was the first OECS country to implement the 2007 version of the Harmonized System Commodity Description Code (HS 2007); and that one of our officers was chosen by CARTAC to assist another sister OECS country in their efforts to upgrade their customs tariff to the HS 2007. This goes to show that Customs in Dominica is reemerging as a leader in the OECS, and hopefully with this reform programme we will continue to strive to be among the best in the region.
It is therefore with this sense of faith and hope that I proudly declare open this project office and officially launch the ASYCUDA World project.
Thank you |
