GRA working with World Customs Organisation to improve capacity

The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) is getting assistance from the World Customs Organisation (WCO) to improve its operations and implement the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement which Guyana ratified in November 2015.

In a statement today, the GRA said the Organisation’s Secretary-General Ambassador Kunio Mikuriya paid a two-day visit to the agency on Monday and Tuesday (March 19th and 20th) and the two sides discussed national and regional support to implement the Agreement.

Mr. Mikuriya, who has been serving as the WCO Secretary General since 2009, was in the company of Ms. Sharon Davies, Technical Attaché, Capacity Building Directorate when he met Commissioner-General of the GRA Mr. Godfrey Statia and senior officials in Customs Excise and Trade Operations.

During what it described as “intensive interactions,” the WCO Secretary-General was provided with a guided on a tour of key areas in Customs Operations such as the Entry Processing Unit, wharves and the Scanner operation site.

“He used the opportunity to interact with Customs Officers stationed at these points, giving them guidance on best practices,” GRA said.

In February this year, the WCO completed a Mercator Programme Scoping Mission to Guyana that identified key areas of Customs operations where GRA could benefit from WCO’s assistance.

Mr. Mikuriya also met participants in the ongoing Customs Officer III Training Programme where he delivered remarks highlighting the importance of the Harmonised System (HS) training which was ongoing at the time. The HS was developed by the WCO to standardise tariff codes in accordance with international best practices. Mr. Mikuriya indicated that HS combined with Valuation best practices, Rules of Origin, Trade Facilitation and Enforcement, constitute some of the core requirements for Customs Officers in any jurisdiction to effectively carry out their functions.