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Couriers hastily organize to lobby government
By INDERIA SAUNDERS ~ Guardian Business Reporter ~ Inderia@nasguard.com: Courier companies — through their newly formed Bahamas Transshipment and Logistics Association (BTLA) — will today lobby government to defer customs declaration changes meant to come into effect this week. The meeting with the comptroller of customs is focused on making a formal request for a two-month extension, Guardian Business has learned. May 15 had been set for implementation of comprehensive changes to how courier companies interact with customs, including requirements they now fill out customs forms breaking down bulk imports into lists of individual items. That's completely different from the baggage declaration forms now being used, where couriers or brokers can combine different items that attract the same rate, according to government officials. That change, in particular, has driven the formation of the association, said Secretary Tara Cartwright. "Our most immediate concern is to try and get the extension of the implementation of the C-13 requirements," she said. "That's the most immediate thing [because] that would allow us to set up the bonds necessary for the C-19 requirement. "We could get all the paper work in order and notify clients of what they have to do as well as our part." If the new rule is implemented Friday, brokers and couriers wanting to clear deliveries — perishables and other goods — can automatically do so on the basis a bond is provided. They must then return within 10 days to clear up the entry declarations. "It's impossible for us to have everything ready by then," Cartwright said Tuesday. "We need to make sure the procedures are consistent everywhere for air and freight clearance so that it's not happening here but happening there. "Hopefully we will get the extension and have time to make the changes we need to make." The customs changes are expected to help the government in recouping millions of loss revenue. It follows recent comments by Minister of State for Finance Zhivargo Laing that the government's revenue shortfall relative to earlier projections was now well in excess of $100 million and so below the $1.6 billion originally projected in its 2008/2009 budget.
Wednesday,May 13,2009 |
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