NRA Celebrates World Customs Day

he National Revenue Authority (NRA) has joined other Customs Administrations worldwide to celebrate World Customs Day, a day set aside by the World Customs Organisation (WCO) to celebrate the first session of the Customs Co-operation Council. Usually, member states of WCO organise various national events to commemorate the day. This year, NRA kicked off the World Customs Day celebrations with a walk from Customs House, Cline Town to the Authority’s Head Office at Bathurst Street. The walk was climaxed by a football match between the NRA and the Association of Clearing and Forwarding Agencies on Saturday 21st January, 2017. On January 26, World Customs Day was marked with a round table discussion where several stakeholders deliberate on the theme for this year’s celebration: “Data Analysis for Effective Border Management.” The event was held at the Customs House, Cline Town, and the Minister of Information and Communication gave the keynote address.

According to the Commissioner-General, this year’s theme has provided the NRA with a platform to discuss the use of information and communication technologies in improving service delivery and maximising revenue collection. She highlighted efforts made by the Authority to modernise and automate customs processes for effective border management and control. The Commissioner-General further made mention of the container inspection scanner that is being installed at the Gbalamuya Customs Post, which was donated by the Chinese Government. Madam Haja Kallah-Kamara also listed the reforms that have been undertaken at Customs which include: • The introduction of Asycuda +++ and the recently proposed migration to Asycuda world. • The establishment of four supporting units at Customs (RM, Valuation, PCA and Tariff/HS codes units). • Attempt to establish a one stop shop at the Customs long room to facilitate the clearance process • The installation of the LAN and WAN connectivity and now the fibre optic arrangement and • .The establishment of the FAST anti-smuggling team.