Larson: Customs enforcement is key to recovery

Strictly enforcing the programs of the Division of Customs would further help the CNMI economy, which has already improved after being stagnant more than five years ago, according to Finance Secretary Larrisa Larson.

“The division’s [Customs] enforcement program is critical to the CNMI’s economic recovery. A better system in evaluation of goods will help Customs improve its operation,” said Larson in last Tuesday’s meeting with Jeff Blackburn at the Customs office at the Saipan seaport. Customs director Jose Mafnas was also at the meeting.

Blackburn is a trade and customs consultant hired by the Oceania Customs Organization, where the CNMI is among the 24 member countries in the region.

The CNMI Customs division collected a total of $43.3 million in taxes in fiscal year 2016, a 24.9-percent jump from last year’s $32.5 million. The $10.8-million increase made up for the decline in the government’s other revenues.

Larson said that importation and reevaluation of goods and other commodities contributed to the increase.

That’s why cross-border collaboration is needed among the OCO members, she said. “Cross-border collaboration is the easiest way to combine resources, especially when we have limitation and with this collaboration we can keep our border safer.”

That’s where Blackburn comes in, with the consultant observing the system used by CNMI Customs. He monitored how Customs officers check the contents of a container and assessed their performance so he could come up with recommendations.

“I’m more involved in business and trade. Customs officers examine and identify goods and resources that are coming in. That’s why I assessed on how things are done here and make recommendations on what needs to be done,” said Blackburn.

“Part of the process of developing the strategic plan is to conduct interviews and assessments in the Customs jurisdiction. There would be lots of observations that needed to be made to know what OCO could do to address the various challenges in specific Customs operation.”

He added OCO would look into how Customs assess imported goods to improve its trade reviews and tariff collection.

Mafnas said his division would implement the system that Blackburn and OCO would suggest to further improve their revenue collection and border security. “The main focus of OCO is to help us align with international standard and best practices.

“I was in Fiji a few weeks ago and I saw the strategic plan that I think would be vital for our operations. That is something that we need to embrace and adopt here. We expect the strategic plan to be completed in March next year.”