The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Freeport’s cross-border commerce was yesterday said to have been sent “back to prehistoric times” as a result of Customs’ electronic system for clearing goods being down for ten successive days.

Glennett Fowler, president of the National Import Export Association of The Bahamas (NIEA), told Tribune Business that the flow of goods had almost come to “a standstill” with companies, individuals and those involved in clearing incoming shipments forced to revert to manual processes.

Disclosing that Customs had hoped to restore its Electronic Customs Automated Services (eCAS) system yesterday, but it had yet to happen, she said many businesses are no longer able to write cheques to cover due duty and VAT payments because - in the digital age - they lack chequing accounts and/or bank guarantees.

Ms Fowler, also president and chief executive of Fowlco, wrote in a letter to the government: “eCAS has been down for nine days with no formal communication from the Bahamas Customs Department to the industry or the community of Grand Bahama.

“This has left businesses and consumers at a standstill in many respects. In several cases entries are taking more than 72 hours to be processed manually. Some business owners had storage levied on them from freight forwarders, adding further expense to their cost of goods sold. We have been advised the system will come up by tomorrow, which was stated the day prior as well.”

A similar message was delivered in the NIEA’s June 29, 2021, letter to Dr Geannine Moss, Customs comptroller, which said the situation has “impeded the ease of doing business for many business owners and consumers.......

“We have had reports come in from the public to the NIEA from business owners who had to pay storage penalties related to the delay in their clearance of goods. This is only a small snippet of the concern surrounding this matter.”

Ms Fowler confirmed to this newspaper that she had been communicating with Customs, Senator Kwasi Thompson, minister of state for finance, and the private sector on the system disruption. “The system is down,” she said. “They are attempting to get it back up today, but have had some additional issues. They’ve been having some issues with the server side of things. The server went down ten days ago.”

Describing the clearance of goods as having been reduced to “a snail’s pace”, Ms Fowler added that persons were having to resort to the manual, paper-based system for clearing goods that was phased out some 10-20 years ago when the world went digital.

“Many persons now are not aware of those processes, many don’t have the ability to write cheques to Customs because they have no guarantee from the bank, and they cannot leave a deposit until the system comes up,” Ms Fowler said, adding that the situation has taken cross-border commerce in Freeport “back to prehistoric times, for want of a better expression”.

“There are many businesses that have brought goods in, and the freight forwarders have charged them storage because they are unable to clear. The cost of goods would have been increased because of having to pay extra storage charges.”

Dr Moss did not respond to a Tribune Business message seeking comment. However, Marlon Johnson, the Ministry of Finance’s acting financial secretary, told this newspaper she had advised him that “they were having some challenges with eCAS and are having to put through manual submissions”.

Ms Fowler, in her letter to Dr Moss, also said Freeport’s business community has been “riddled with concerns” over Customs plan to implement its new Click2Clear system in the city. “We agree as the Association’s board that abuse of bonded purchases have indeed contributed to the need for improved methods in managing this aspect of revenue collection,” she added.

“Nonetheless, the manner in which it is being asked to be carried out by the purchaser (business owner with an over-the-counter bond) is both frustrating and tedious. This new aspect of processing bonded purchases will certainly impose further burden on the micro/small/medium size enterprises.

“Based on the training that has been conducted, and the further updates or modifications to the system that have yet to be rolled out, we can pre-determine just through the execution of work that more labour cost and operational costs will be forced upon business owners. This will also create increased potential cases of fines for these business owners and frustration.”

Arguing that Customs was effectively showing “disregard” for the system’s users, Ms Fowler wrote: “While it is important to safeguard the collection of revenue, there should have been more consideration placed on the actual users.

“We are of the mindset that Click2Clear is indeed a win for regulated operators in the freight forwarding, courier and brokerage businesses, and others. However, we can see the added weight it will place on these businesses and consumers in the community.

“Larger entities may be prepared to hire additional administrative staff to tackle the process of ‘over-the-counter purchases’, but the small entities that have played a major part in carrying the economy of Grand Bahama cannot sustain this change.”

Ms Fowler continued: “We would like to ask again, as we have asked before, to be seen as an ally with the Bahamas Customs Department and its adjacent entities and relative ministries. We believe that if we have open and transparent dialogue, and if we are given an opportunity to understand and hear the concerns and opportunities that are being considered, we can aid in the improvement of dialogue within the industry.

“Further, we would be able to provide feedback and or troubleshoot with the department so that the best possible ideas and rollouts would have the support of the NIEA. While it may not be realistic in all cases, we would be able to make progress together for the improvement of trade in the country.”