The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

Government and Customs officials yesterday hailed as a “significant milestone” the signing of a  $13 million contract to create the department’s Electronic Single Window (ESW), an initiative that is expected to further reduce the clearance time for imported goods.

An Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) report for the  $16.5 million Trade Sector Support Programme, of which the ESW is part, had estimated the Government was  losing $66 million annually due to inefficiencies at Bahamas Customs alone.

The bank had warned that Bahamas Customs’ woes also threatened this nation’s World Trade Organisation (WTO) accession and implementation of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) signed with the European Union (EU).

The Trade Sector Programme launched in 2013 consisted of three components: the strengthening of Customs management and capacity; the electronic single window (ESW) and the enhancement of an international trade institutional platform.

“We have arrived at a significant milestone in the programme’s action phase,” said Michael Halkitis, minister of state for finance.

“The procurement of the electronic single window commenced in  2016 using the Best of Breed approach. There were 17 expressions of interest and seven were shortlisted. Three of the shortlisted firms submitted proposals and a contract awardee has been identified. After a very completive tendering process, the consultancy firm Crimsonlogic Panama Inc has been selected to carry out the activity,”

Mr Halkitis added: “The contract’s valued at approximately $13 million, with a duration of 111 months.  This includes a 15-month project implementation, 12-month warranty and 54 months of support and maintenance.”

He said the ESW will bring about a further reduction in clearance time for imported goods and declarations; a reduction of the administrative cost of collecting revenue; facilitation of one-time submission of documents and online payments; facilitate an information exchange with port community systems; data harmonisation; a risk management approach to border management; and international as well as regional systems interoperability.

Customs Comptroller, Charles Turner, told Tribune Business: “What is happening now is all importers are submitting documents electronically as commercial and non-commercial.

“By that happening it has allowed us to do risk analysis, a proper analysis, of cargo, and by analysing the cargo we can determine where we are going to put our emphasis. That emphasis is going to be on high-risk cargo. It is not possible for us to examine all cargo, and so we have to use staff wisely and examine the cargo as necessary.”