The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Perry Christie told 20 new graduates of the Customs Department in Grand Bahama yesterday that their role is critical to the country’s governance and they must be “obedient” when called on to serve in the Family Islands.   

“You are beginning a career today which is critical in the overall scheme of things when it comes to the governance of our country,” he said at a graduation ceremony in the BUT Building in Freeport.   

Mr Christie said that their career path may take them outside Grand Bahama to other islands of The Bahamas when the need arises. “You are expected to be faithful and obedient public officers to the call,” he said.

The graduates are the first set of recruits to be introduced and trained under the New Customs Management Act and the Regulations 2011.

Mr Christie first met and interacted with the new recruits in December and promised to attend their graduation. He told them they are now part of a prestigious department which functions as both border security and revenue agents for the Government.

“It enfolds on you a tremendous responsibility in both aspects of your duties. It is not merely a desk job where you can hopefully expect a long and secured career with benefits, but you are beginning a career today,” he said.

The Prime Minister explained that New Customs Management Act and Regulations 2011 is a modernised Act drafted to meet the obligations contained in the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) signed by the Bahamas in October, 2008, and to align with the Trade Rules of The World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The Act, he said, was also drafted to comply with the instruments and standards of the World Customs Organisation (WCO) such as the Revised Kyoto Convention on the Simplification and Harmonisation of Customs Procedures, and to introduce best practices, among other things.

Mr Christie added that the Act reinforces the role and capacity of the Bahamas Customs Department to achieve its strategic objectives.

“You are now the first recruits to be the beneficiaries of a $16.5m loan agreement between the Government of the Bahamas and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB),” he said.  

According to the Prime Minister, the three components of the loan agreement are to improve the facilitation of trade; to collect revenue; and to improve border protection.

“You will be immersed into a modernised Customs organisation with improved border protection, enforcement and the Electronic Single Window (which began February 1) and System Automation,” he said.

Mr Christie again reminded graduates of the major role that the Customs Department plays in the economy of The Bahamas. “Almost 60 per cent of Government’s revenue and taxes are to be collected by you. You need to be very conscious that the Customs Department is not the Customs Department of 1914, when the Department was established. It is not the Customs Department of the 1950s and 60s.

“This is a new day for Customs and you should be proud to know that you have entered the threshold of a new and innovative system,” he said.