Customs procedures to be improved for oil industry

Customs procedures to be improved for oil industry – GRA

Feb 19, 2019 News

The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) will be making moves quite soon to improve its customs procedures in light of the burgeoning oil and gas industry. It made this known in its Strategic Plan for 2019-2021.
In that document, GRA said that there is a need to improve the customs procedures, registration, tax payment options and other aspects of its operations to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The authority said the need to address these deficiencies in the tax system have come to the fore with the oil and gas sector, while adding that the country’s prospects must be improved to maximize government’s take through competitive bidding regimes.

GRA Commissioner-General, Godfrey Statia

Further to this, GRA noted that it is one of the major agencies, which impact the ease of doing business in Guyana. Citing the World Bank’s Doing Business Report, GRA noted that in 2017, the country ranked 126 out of 190 countries. However, in 2018, Guyana dropped eight places to a ranking of 134. It said that this further cements the need for GRA to improve its operations.
In the meantime, GRA is already taking steps to improve its IT and customs system, with the implementation of the foolproof Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA).
Commissioner-General Godfrey Statia noted a few weeks ago that the programme is expected to be fully implemented by the end of the second quarter.
In a previous interview with this newspaper, Statia noted that ASYCUDA became necessary since GRA’s current accounting system, the Total Revenue Integrated Processing System (TRIPS), has been working inefficiently for close to 10 years.
Through its ASYCUDA Programme, Statia said that GRA hopes to modernize customs operations and improve revenue collection; facilitate trade efficiency and competitiveness by substantially reducing transaction time and costs; improve security by streamlining procedures of cargo control, transit of goods and clearance of goods; reduce corruption by enhancing the transparency of transactions; and promote sustainable development by cutting down on the use of paper, through the use of electronic transactions and documents.