The fallout over the unauthorized purchase of vehicles for the government has given rise to the strengthening of government’s procedures in other areas of its operation.
Coming out of this week’s meeting of the Cabinet is an announcement that new news measures are to go into effect regarding the inspection process for goods imported into the country.
Cabinet spokesman Maurice Merchant indicated that a new layer of oversight; the setting up of a Finance Audit Team is conducting a new system of random checks of containers before they leave the St. John’s Harbour.
This move is a direct consequence of the noticeable decline in government revenues from the port and it is designed to plug any leaks in the system. “Following reports of government observing significant reduction in revenue from the Port and businesses not paying correct duties and taxes on imports, the Cabinet announced last week that it will engage private individuals and the Finance Audit Team to accompany customs officers to randomly inspect containers to ensure that manifested items comprise the contents of containers and that correct value are assigned to the imports,” Merchant stated.
Additionally, the Cabinet has further expanded the team of individuals to carry out spot checks at the port to include law enforcement officers. A special fund will be established to compensate individuals who will be selected randomly from a Register of competent private citizens of good standing to carry out the checks. Individuals listed in the Register will be selected in a fashion similar to the Jury Duty selection process.
The Cabinet has also identified a protected space at the Port Authority where the spot checks on containers will be executed, to be observed by a modern security system during the unpacking.
What happens if items are damaged by the inspection team?