Customs officers get enforcement tips |23 May 2005

The participants were presented with their certificates by tax commissioner Steve Jardine and the director of trades tax Selwyn Knowles at the customs office at the Pointe Larue cargo terminal.

Khauhelo Mawana, technical manager with the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, was recruited by Comesa to facilitate the workshop.

Mr Mawana said the course was designed to give the officers a feel for how customs enforcement balances with facilitating the movement of goods.

Given that Seychelles imports so much of its commodities, the customs department “has a lot of work to do,” he said, but noted that the real challenge for customs officers lies in knowing “how they can intervene while at the same time promoting (trade).”

Mr Mawana also noted that with increased liberalisation of trade, more international traders will see an opportunity in Seychelles, and that the customs department would have to continuously adapt and modernise to speed up its processes.

Speaking to the participants, Mr Jardine and Mr Knowles both asked the officers to take what they had learned during the course back to their respective units for the benefit of their colleagues.

The Ministry of Finance would be conducting in-house training programmes for customs officers that would supplement future Comesa courses, Mr Jardine added.