BAHAMAS: Customs Target 'Rogue' Couriers

BAHAMAS Customs is bringing Supreme Court actions against three "couriers" who have failed to submit the correct duties and paperwork to clear imported shipments, the Comptroller yesterday telling Tribune Business that problems uncovered at its Odyssey Aviation station have now been corrected.

Glenn Gomez said problems created by "a huge increase" in the number of couriers and brokers attempting to clear goods through the fixed base operator's (FBO) Customs station, plus false and incorrect declarations, had been rectified from January 2011.

Acknowledging that Aquapure had found itself in an "unfortunate situation" of having to pay import duties and brokerage fees twice, after its now-deceased former broker failed to pass them and the proper paperwork on to Customs, Mr Gomez said other Bahamas-based companies had found themselves in the same position.

Tribune Business revealed earlier this week how Customs was refusing to clear vital parts necessary to keep Aquapure's reverse osmosis machine running, on the grounds that it had not received the company's duty payments on 25 previous equipment shipments going back to 2010.

While the bottled water manufacturer was eventually able to clear the parts, Customs has - for the moment - placed it on a 'cash upfront' basis, as it awaits payments for at least 10-15 previous shipments.

Aquapure operations head, Geoffrey Knowles, said the company had given its former broker the necessary sums to pay the due duty, but this had never been passed to Customs or the correct paperwork submitted.

"It's unfortunate with the Aquapure situation, but they're not the only one," Mr Gomez said, when interviewed by Tribune Business yesterday. "They're not the only company where that happened. There were a couple more companies where persons were given duty monies upfront and did not bring them in.

"We're bringing court actions against three other persons, couriers, for other similar things. Sometimes it's a while before we find it out."

Mr Gomez denied Aquapure's suggestions that, based on its experience, there appeared to be some kind of Customs-related scam going on at Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA).

He effectively acknowledged, though, that there appeared to have been some kind of Customs complicity - whether unwitting or not - that exacerbated the bottled water manufacturer's situation.

The Comptroller said the company's former broker had a five-day bond with Customs, which enabled the Department to release them on the spot, then file the correct duties and paperwork within five days. The last two parts never happened, and Mr Gomez admitted: "It seems the officers went a little further than they should have in releasing that many goods.

"If they [couriers/brokers] have the bond and you clear a shipment, make sure you've gotten payment for the shipment you've gotten."

The Comptroller also conceded that Customs had uncovered several issues at its Odyssey station, which were subsequently dealt with.

"We found out a number of things, adjusted some of the staff, did an internal audit and corrected some of issues we found at that station," he told Tribune Business.

"There seemed to be a huge increase in the amount of couriers purchasing and importing goods on behalf of other persons. A lot was coming through that area."

To resolve this, Customs "decentralised" its operations to other stations at LPIA. Mr Gomez added: "Because of the volume of persons coming through, there were oversights and not good checks and balances. Things were allowed to happen over the last two years.

"It was the volume of goods, and one of the other things was that there were some persons coming in, couriers, bringing in commercial goods and trying to clear them as personal goods.

"That was also creating a problem, as if goods were not properly declared, they were not paying the proper duties. So we've resolved that now from about January."

Mr Gomez told Tribune Business that Customs' management often uncovered irregularities when "impromptu audits" were conducted at some of the Department's remoter stations and posts throughout the Bahamas.

"What we try to do, particularly at these out stations, are impromptu audits, and that's when we find these things out," he added. "Sometimes the officers there try to resolve things and do not report it, and it can get messy."

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