WASHINGTON: The Customs Department has begun operating a new clearance system in the arrival hall at Owen Roberts International Airport (ORIA). Collector of Customs Charles Clifford said the simplified process, recommended by the World Customs Organisation and commonly known as the ‘red/green system’, facilitates the flow of arriving passengers and their baggage without reducing the effectiveness of customs control. But Clifford stressed the importance of passengers being truthful and accurate on their declaration forms and warned that officers will make spot checks to ensure they are.
“Entering the green channel will be considered to be a declaration by the traveller that that person has nothing to declare,” Clifford stated in a release from the customs department Friday announcing the new system, which has been in operation for around two weeks. “Any undeclared goods found during checks will result in either penalties being imposed or prosecution, which could lead to imprisonment for failure to make a truthful declaration”. Undeclared goods or cash are also subject to seizure by customs where people have been dishonest, the collector warned.
Some 700 passengers arrive at ORIA on a normal weekday, with around 60-80 having goods to declare. But the numbers jump to 1,600 a day on the weekends and even more during the holidays. Officials said that the new red-green channels will allow travellers to choose which distinctively marked channel they go through. The green channel, which is marked “nothing to declare”, is for people with no more than their duty-free allowances, no prohibited or restricted goods and no more that CI$15,000, or equivalent, in cash.
The red channel is for goods that exceed duty-free allowance, are for business use, goods for other people, prohibited or restricted items or more that CI$15,000 in cash. Arriving passengers who opt for the green channel when they have goods to declare will find themselves on the wrong side of the law if they are caught, and an officer will be assigned to the green channel to vet suspicious looking baggage.
Another new system designed to speed things up is a pre-pay clearance process for travellers with goods to declare. They may now pre-pay customs duties before making their formal declaration to an officer at the red channel. Once this is done, a customs officer will either allow people who have pre-paid to exit without inspection, or refer them for x-ray screening or a physical inspection to ensure they have made a truthful declaration. Signage outlining the descriptions and quantities of goods travellers may have with them now appears throughout the arrival hall and additional information is provided via audio message.
Acting Deputy Collector of Customs Jeff Jackson said passengers should avoid complications by making truthful declarations, paying careful attention to the signs and having their receipts readily available if there are any questions or queries by customs officers. Officers will make spot checks, he said. Customs also encourages passengers, if they are unsure or have any questions or queries, to speak with the officer available for this purpose in the Customs Hall. In future, the department also plans to computerize the clearance process in order to expedite the processing of passengers.
Finance Minister Marco Archer, who spoke this week about his goal to improve revenue collection, welcomed the new system at the airport. “Response so far has been extremely positive and accordingly the next step will be to fully implement the process with additional resources in the new Customs Hall when that is completed,” he said. He added that the new systems would be reviewed regularly with an eye to improvement. There are no plans at present to extend the system to Cayman Brac.
