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Jamaica’s customs brokers are calling for the new customs procedures at ports of entry to be revamped to ease the current cargo backlog and its negative effects on small business operators.
In a statement to the media on Sunday, the Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Association of Jamaica said the new procedures, if not quickly revamped, will spell the death knell for small businesses.
President of the association, Clive Coke, said as the busy Christmas season approaches the island’s customs brokers have been hard-pressed to resolve the frustrations being experienced by their customers in the MSME sector, who have been trying to clear their goods for weeks to rebuild their businesses in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Many of our customers, who are small operators and householders, who need to access their goods quickly, do not import the large volumes that would allow them to qualify for the quick off-site clearance privileges extended by the Customs Agency to big importers. MSME businesses are the real casualties of the new customs procedures, and they are the ones who are likely to feel the pain this Christmas,” said Coke.
The association said during a visit to the Kingston Freeport Terminal (KFTL), the main gateway for containerised cargo into Jamaica on November 7, it was discovered that there was a backlog of up to 120 containers at the terminal.
“We were alarmed at how the brisk operations and usually high productivity rate at KFTL have been adversely affected by the new customs procedures,” Coke stated.
He noted that while customs brokers are mindful of the national security challenges faced by Jamaica, and are highly supportive of the need to secure the borders from illegal imports, there is need for reasonableness and balance.
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