With the aim of improving the operations of the Customs and Trade Administration, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) has implemented some 24 measures that were recommended by the National Competitiveness Strategy Unit (NCSU).This disclosure was made recently by Past Chairman of the Private Sector Commission, Ramesh Dookoo, during a recent press conference.According to Dookoo, the NCSU was developed to execute the National Competitiveness Strategy (NCS) which was developed a few years ago.The strategy, according to him, outlines 142 strategic items that Guyana needs to incorporate in order to become more competitive in the business arena.NCSU Chairman, Cecil RajanaDookoo noted that it is indeed heartening that GRA has undertaken to show its support by working towards implementing 24 recommendations so far which represent a large percentage of the efforts being made in this regard.Director of the NCSU,Wholesale Jerseys, Mr Cecil Rajana, disclosed that of all the stakeholders, GRA has been in the forefront.“When you ask exporters and importers what are their problems all of them point their fingers to Customs. So there have been several recommendations for the improvement of the Customs Administration.”According to Rajana, of the 85 recommendations highlighted in the strategy, about 54 were related to Customs, an entity which has willingly embraced the efforts of the NCSU.The Private Sector Commission had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Government in 2006 to establish a partnership for the implementation of the strategy which covers areas such as law, economics, best practices, and governance among other areas.Once it is fully implemented, Dookoo said that the strategy will in fact affect the entire population as it also includes issues relative to taxation and legislative changes relevant to business.The NCS derives from the National Development Strategy (NDS) which came into being about nine years ago. And since the NDS is slated to come to an end in the year 2010, the NCS has taken some critical parts of the NDS and seeks to highlight some of the same issues, said Rajana.As such, earnest efforts are being made by the NCSU to ensure that a law enacted by the government in 2006 becomes operational to enable fair trading competition through a Commission which is headed by Dookoo as Chairman.According to Rajana, although the Commission has its Chairman, business mogul Ramesh Dookoo, it in fact has a very good balance of people including the likes of Consumer Advocate, Pat Dial.The two will be moderated by two other members, Adrian Adamaya, a lawyer by profession and Financial Analyst, Mr Keith Burrowes, Rajana disclosed.And according to him, the NCSU is in the process of establishing a Secretariat to make the Commission operational.The NCSU, Rajana said is currently in the process of appointing more people, adding that there have already been interviews for three persons. However, the critical positions of an Executive Director and two Directors are yet to be filled.“We are constrained by resources a little bit, not only in terms of supporting the appointments of such individuals who will have to be reasonably paid in order to attract good candidates. Likewise, because we are new, we need to develop a database, we need to develop regulations, we need to train people and we need to do a variety of things…,” Rajana said.And in order not to over tax the resources of the government, Rajana said that the NCSU has applied to the Caribbean Development Bank for some assistance to help with the establishment of the Commission.Added to the NCSU list of priorities, Dookoo lauded the entity for putting measures in place in order to protect consumers.According to the Chairman of the Commission, through the NCSU, legislations have been drafted and efforts are being made to enact new legislation on consumer protection policies which should be in place later this year.And it will be the task of the Commission under the leadership of Dookoo to police that piece of legislation as is already customary within the rest of the Caribbean.In fact, with all of the intensified efforts of the NCSU, Guyana is complying with its obligation under the treaty of Chagaramas to enact competition policies and competition laws and now consumer protection policies.Accordingly, Guyana is now elevated to a higher plain in terms of consumer protection issues, Dookoo asserted.
