Georgetown: A National Committee on Trade Facilitation (NCTF) comprising public and private sector stakeholders met at the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) recently to fast-track discussions on the implementation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement.
The members were drawn from the GRA, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Private Sector Commission (PSC) and other key agencies in the trade arena.
The work of the Committee is key to the realisation of the Agreements that WTO member countries unanimously endorsed at the conclusion of the Ninth WTO Ministerial Conference, in Bali, Indonesia in December 2013.
The Agreement will enter into force once two-thirds of members have deposited their Protocol of Amendments with the WTO Secretariat. As a member state committed to the implementation of the Agreement, Guyana has been loyal to its stakeholder engagements.
Article 23 (2) of the Agreement states that each member shall establish and/or maintain a national committee on trade facilitation, or designate an existing mechanism to facilitate both domestic coordination and implementation of the provision in the Agreement.
Minister of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh delivered the feature address at today’s engagement and said the Cabinet of Guyana has considered the Agreement. Hence, at the successful completion of the stakeholder engagements, ratification will follow.
The Minister expounded on the importance of Guyana looking beyond domestic markets for growth and taking advantage of promising trade opportunities with its South American allies, namely neighbouring Brazil.
“We are convinced that Guyana is uniquely placed to take advantage of trade opportunities, to catalyse rapid growth and for us to do so, it is absolutely imperative that we address the need for an efficient trade facilitation system,” Minister Singh said.
In this regard, he challenged the GRA to ensure that its efforts are directed to the promotion of effective trade facilitation in the same way that it fulfils its tax and Customs administration mandate.
“Every single entity involved in processing trade transactions has an important obligation to ensure that those transactions are processed efficiently. Doing so does not conflict with your obligations to contribute to revenue-collection and growth in the economy.”
The Minister spoke in the presence of GRA’s Commissioner-General Khurshid Sattaur, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Neville Totaram, Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) Ramesh Persaud, and representatives of other agencies involved in trade engagements.
The WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement contains provisions for expediting the movement, release and clearance of goods in transit. It also sets out measures of effective cooperation between customs and other authorities relevant to trade facilitation and customs compliance issues.
Guyana appears to be on the right track with many of the WTO requirements since at a recent WTO hosted event in 2013, a needs assessment was conducted showing that the country was on track with meeting the targets set by the Agreement.
“In the various areas that were assessed; risk management, the inspection process for cargo, partnership with the private sector through the public private partnership body, there have been much improvement,” GRA’s Commissioner-General, Khurshid Sattaur explained during his remarks.
Modernisation of operations at the GRA through the use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) is ongoing at the GRA. Soon the GRA will be introducing e-services to make electronic filing of returns, submission of Customs Declarations & Manifest Documents a reality.
The PSC which has been an advocate for efficiency and timeliness in business transactions has favoured the GRA’s ongoing efforts. The private sector according to PSC Chairman is proud to be a part of the process.
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