6th July, 2012
By Esther Komolafe
President Goodluck Jonathan has stressed the need for collaboration between Customs administrations world wide, saying it could be a solution to national and regional security issues.
The president who addressed delegates at the just concluded 119th/120th session of the Customs Cooperation Council/World Customs organization (WCO) in Brussels, Belgium recently, said cooperation and collaboration between Customs administrations at regional and other levels was important because of the growing menace of terrorism, proliferation of light weapons, narcotics, smuggling, money-laundering and other cross border crimes.
Besides helping to minimise insecurity in their respective countries and regions, Jonathan, who described the Customs the world over as trade facilitator, urged the service globally to establish a strategic partnership with the business sector in order to assist in maintaining the competitive edge of the local industry.
Specifically, he urged the Customs to assist the business sector to minimise cost of business transaction through the reduction of time for the conclusion of business transactions and by helping to avoid stock accumulation and prolonged warehousing.
“I do believe that the benefit of greater efficiency, enhanced competitiveness and higher productivity in the new global economic environment would be better achieved if the Customs service is responsive to the needs of industry in area of simplification of procedures, efficient processing of shipment, and the transparent use of rules and regulations.
“Furthermore, customs can assist the business sector to minimise the cost arising from unexpected loss of time through the attainment of just-in-time deliveries and avoidance of stock accumulation and prolonged warehousing.”