Commissioner General of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) Mr. Khurshid Sattaur yesterday said the container scanner, installed at the Guyana National Shipping Corporation (GNSC) wharf in the City, is working “like genius” after coming into operation officially from the end of last month. However, Sattaur said that while the US$1 million piece of equipment has been operating smoothly, there remain concerns about the staff of the GRA. He said that while the piece of modern machinery can deliver results that are predictable, this is not the case for those operating the equipment.
“We have to perfect the system of determining whose container is scanned and whose is not,” Sattaur said, adding that the staff members are becoming more versed and confident in the machine’s operation. “We have a high level of probity,” said Sattaur.
He indicated that while all containers destined for the United States must be scanned, containers not so destined might still be put through the scanner to determine the veracity of the declarations made on the documentation.
Sattaur and other officials of the GRA had given the media a demonstration of the new container scanner, as the agency seeks to bolster its narcotic detection potential for exports, while protecting revenue on the import side. Electrical compatibility issues had plagued the scanner’s full installation and operationalisation.
Should customs officers find something in the container that should not be there, they would inform the exporter by way of letter, of the date and time that they must present the containerised cargo, along with all relevant documents, to the GRA scanner terminal for examination.
Officers at the demonstration explained that when the containers are scanned, they are transported under Customs guard to the wharf from where they would be loaded on the exporting vessel.
The GRA acquired the container with funding from Millennium Challenge Account (MCA)/United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Government of Guyana.
The scanner will be utilised as a tool by the Law Enforcement and Investigation Division (LEID), in keeping with the GRA’s standardisation and modernisation programme. The GRA proposes to use the scanner to process mainly containerised imports as part of enhancing revenue protection exercises.
This new mandate of the GRA resulted in a reassessment of the customs operations and the intended use of the scanner. This reassessment saw a shift from using the scanner as a revenue collection driven operation to one that is focused on monitoring and profiling of containerised exports, through the use of intelligence, both internally and externally, from agencies such as the Customs Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU).