President of the SAJ, Grantley Stephenson (left) and Commissioner of Customs, Alison Moore sign a Memorandum of Understanding at last Tuesday's opening of 24th Annual Conference of the Caribbean Customs Law Enforcement Council in Ocho Rios. PLEDGING TO enhance collaboration and co-operation, the Shipping Association of Jamaica and the Jamaica Customs Department recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which sets the tone for future relations between the two organisations.
The MOU was signed last week at the opening of 24th Annual Conference of the Caribbean Customs Law Enforcement Council in Ocho Rios by Commissioner of Customs, Alison Moore and SAJ President Grantley Stephenson.
The Agreement notes that it is the responsibility of both Customs and the SAJ to promote safe, secure and expeditious handling of goods in the shipping industry in order to strengthen trade facilitation, while ensuring appropriate border control to suppress contraband smuggling and trade fraud.
Areas covered under the MOU include IT strategies and systems, training, contraband detection and trade fraud, information sharing and support, and collaboration in efforts to stamp out corruption and collusion at the workplace.
Mr. Stephenson notes that both organisations are committed to a process of ongoing dialogue and co-operation to ensure that Jamaica's trade process is transparent, speedy and efficient. He emphasised that, "these are not easy tasks, but in a highly collaborative and structured process, we believe these goals can be achieved".
