The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) has reported a dramatic increase in revenue collection at the notorious smuggling hotbed of the Guyana/Suriname border, with tax collection moving from approximately Gy$7 million to a whopping Gy$25 million weekly. But it is still to hone in on a port at Line Path, which GRA chief Khurshid Sattaur admitted was problematic.
Sattaur said the increase in revenue was made possible after GRA put several new systems in place, plugging numerous loopholes that for years helped a number of Corentyne businesses to prosper. He noted that the GRA has been faced with a number of issues at that particular border.
While the entity was aware of what was happening, it had to carefully plan a strategy to tackle the issue and strengthen the system. “We are moving to use better customs procedures there,” he added.
Bond
According to him, the revenue authority now has a bond, rented from a private company, closer to the Guyana/Suriname border and it has a centralised valuation system that profiles all importers and selects those with a poor risk assessment for investigation.
Unlike the storage bonds used by the GRA in Georgetown that are actually owned by major shipping operators like John Fernandes Limited and Muneshwer’s Shipping, the bond in Port Mourant is controlled and operated by GRA.
“We are using that bond to have more effective control and management over goods imported to such an extent, we have improved the collection from what it was, say, around September currently to more than 150 per cent,” he added.
GRA officials, he said, are also engaged in physical examination of goods in cases where this is necessary.
“So, all of these measures have served to improve the collection from what I mentioned and that I think has attributed to the effort we have made and the high degree of cooperation we are receiving from the authorities in Suriname.”
He noted that the meeting held with high-level delegates of both counties last September facilitated the implementation of these systems.
The GRA boss said he will not give any credit to the business community, specifically because they were forced to adhere to the system.
At one time, the business community of Regions Six and Five, with the help of their local government offices, lobbied to have all taxes removed on the importation of goods from the neighbouring country. “I am happy that we have been able to overcome those periods of difficulties, of challenges and of strong resistance and we are finally home safe, in that, we have put a system that is more accurate” and more consistent declarations are being made.
This, he said, will ensure more revenue is collected for the country and businesses do not have to complain about unfair competition from those importing goods from Suriname.
Line Path
According to Sattaur, many of the businesses located in the city, at one time, actually stopped clearing goods in Georgetown, joining the team of businesses in the Berbice region importing their goods from Suriname and trying to evade taxes.
Many of them had even moved to change their port of destination from Georgetown to Port Mourant.
However, systems have been put in place to tackle the slippages that have been occurring with commercial goods that bypass the official port or Moleson Creek where the ferry docks, coming into the country via an area called Line Path in Corriverton.
Chicken smuggling
The GRA boss said the tax body is now looking at issues relating to smuggling of other commodities. “There is a concern right now with the smuggling of chicken, which is being imported illegally into the country to avoid taxes. There is also a concern that a large amount of goat is being exported illegally from Guyana and we have put measures in place to address these concerns.”
A large volume of business is carried out between Guyana and Suriname. Goods – food, household appliances, and other commodities – mostly come from Suriname.
The importation of goods and the evasion of taxes by businesses have caused significant hardship for some businesses which have complained that they have to pay a large amount of taxes compared to those that evade taxes.
The Berbice Anti-Smuggling Squad (BASS) was created several years ago to address the issue of smuggling of goods. While it achieved some measures of success, there has been a high level of corruption.
With the assistance of the Suriname custom authorities, the GRA has effectively moved to address the issue, frequently rotating its staff at the border to guard against corruption.
