Left to Right (Frontline): Mr. Collins Gesa, Mr. Kumar Sami Goundar, Mr. Benjamin Malas, Mr. Ed De Jong, Mr. John Silik Sala, Mr. Harold Tarosa Back row: Workshop participant
The officials came from various sea port and air freight Customs Offices in Port Vila and Luganville. The one week workshop took place on 13th – 17th October 2014. The five day workshop was delivered by World Customs Organization (WCO) HS Expert Mr. Ed De Jong, who is the Senior Technical Officer at the Trade and Tariff Affairs Directorate of the WCO, and Mr. Kumar Sami Gounder, who is the National Manager for Fiji Revenue & Customs Authority (FRCA).
The workshop focuses on WCO Revenue Package, the HS Convention, HS Nomenclature, e-learning modules in the WCO website, a diagnostic tool on tariff classification works and related infrastructure, and the Explanatory Notes to the General Interpretative Rules. The workshop facilitators also handed over five volumes of HS2012 Explanatory Notes to the Department of Customs and Inland Revenue. In his remarks, Mr. Jong advises Customs Officials to make good use of the tools provided to them to ensure uniformity and consistency amongst all customs sea ports and air freight offices throughout Vanuatu.
This workshop is funded by EUROCUSTOMS, and is co-supported by Fiji Revenue & Customs Authority. In his closing remarks, the Deputy Director of Customs said on behalf of the Director that Vanuatu is committed to completing the process of becoming a contracting party to the HS Convention, and will certainly make effort to modernize the HS related infrastructure of Vanuatu. He advises senior Customs Officers to make good use of the course materials given to them.
Vanuatu is currently applying the 2007 version of the Harmonized System and is scheduled to adopt the 2012 version of the Harmonize System, once is passed in the forthcoming Parliamentary Budget Session in November/December 2014, ready for usage come 1st January 2015.
