TTMA has plan to return Customs to full efficiency

The TT Manufacturers Association (TTMA) has proposed a two-prong approach to return the Customs and Excise Division to full efficiency, with immediate effect.

In a letter to Ralph Newton, Comptroller of Customs and Excise, TTMA President Anthony Hosang, said: “We strongly urge to explore the possibility of patching the existing computer system to function until the new system is installed.” Hosang continued that “failing this, we ask that two customs officers be dedicated to process the entries of the TTMA members, and DTI export entries in the interim.”

In a release yesterday, he stated that companies of the TTMA had been adversely affected by the recent delays at Customs, which had resulted in late and cancelled export shipments. He claimed that operational costs of storage, transport and demurrage had increased, and that factories were forced to slow down by the late arrival of raw materials. Hosang expressed dismay and disappointment that the Division’s equipment was in such an outdated state, and that there were no contingency measures for such an event.

He also expressed disbelief that it would take at least six to eight weeks to fix the problem, and that TTMA members would lose both local and export market share, which was already threatened by other existing factors. Hosang concluded by extending a plea to Trade Minister Ken Valley and Junior Finance Minister Conrad Enill to correct this problem as soon as possible.