This morning a five-day workshop on the Agreement Implementation of Article Seven of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994-Customs Valuation Agreement commenced.
The workshop organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Commerce in collaboration with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Customs Organization is taking place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Conference Room.
Speaking at the opening ceremony this morning, Nathaniel Williams, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said he sees this workshop as being critical. He noted that there three majority objectives to be achieved in this workshop:
* Knowledge and understanding of valuing goods.
* Having the ability to differentiate and recognize the false and authentic invoices and other documents presented for assessments of imports or exports.
* To be able to administer an efficient and affective system of valuation that is fair, uniformed and neutral.
Meanwhile, Irwina Phills, the Comptroller at the Customs and Excise Department said the ease of falsifying invoices, and the widely different prices for similar goods, complicates the correct valuation of imported goods.
