If that is not bad news enough, Deputy Commissioner of Customs, Ms. Ingrid Griffith, also said that the Customs and Trade Administration is "not adequately equipped to combat smuggling".

She was a member of a local panel yesterday to present a report on shipping in Guyana to the Caribbean Shipping Association (CSA) mid-year Executives' Conference at Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel in Georgetown.

She said that 75% of the G$18.1 billion in revenue which was collected last year came from international trade. This year, Customs has projected G$20B in revenue with G$16B coming from international trade.

However, she said that much revenue is evading tax and duty collectors as smuggling is a "big problem".

Although joint anti-smuggling exercises are conducted by the Police, the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit and the Guyana Defence Force's Coast Guard, Griffith said "there is a significant increase of smuggling activities" along Guyana's rivers and borders.

She said that crew members of vessels, either those used for pleasure, commercial reasons or for fishing, are involved in the transport of goods and drugs.

Drugs may be dumped overboard and later recovered by other vessels, persons or otherwise, while other goods reach the market and are sold at competitive and cheaper prices due to the non-payment and in some cases inadequate payment of duties and taxes, she reported.

Griffith noted that a container may also contain illicit cargo, but that "other persons manipulate paper work" to avert discovery of the contents of the container.

"Some crew members of large vessels may work along with stevedores or shipping lines personnel at ports of entry to place the drugs in bulk cargo or conceal them in conspicuous areas", she said.

The senior official pointed out that there are reports that containers are smuggled out of the customs area or the dockyard of some shipping companies without being examined.

She also said that there are problems encountered by Customs when importers, brokers and some shipping agents lodge incomplete and incorrect declarations

Under-invoicing of goods is the primary area through which revenue is lost, she said.

Griffith added that the efficiency of Customs officers is affected by inadequate resources for completing the job at hand. These include, she said, vessels, telecommunications equipment, high-powered firearms and other equipment.

"Do you know that over the past nine months we had a number of containers arriving in Georgetown with the seals intact, but half the goods gone?" importer Mr. Frank De Abreu of DeSinco Trading asked Caribbean shippers.

"One time they had an old tractor engine in a 40-foot container that was supposed to be (filled with spare) parts", he said.

"The truckers will chop the container somewhere and replace it with the very seals" but not before taking the stuff out of the container, he explained.

He said this has been happening since last November and the items stolen include cigarettes, milk, food, and spare parts and the result is a tremendous loss for importers.

Griffith said the Customs and Trade Administration has embarked on a programme to enhance its operational efficiency in several areas and to alleviate most of problems she highlighted.

These include training and development of human resources and strong and efficient enforcement of the rules to suppress cross border smuggling of goods.

The programme also includes intelligence gathering and effective investigations.

She said also that Customs is looking at how to reduce under-invoicing, under declarations, and incorrect description of goods, thus ensuring that the correct duties and taxes are paid by importers and exporters.

In addition, she said that the Customs and Trade Administration is looking at facilitating the timely release of goods at various ports of entries, and internally, ensuring that the policies, systems and processes provide effective support services to clients.

Griffith said it was important that shipping authorities and all ports of imports and exports and transit points suppress illicit trafficking of goods by enforcing strict cargo processing procedures.

The two-day conference was due to end yesterday afternoon.

Security of the Caribbean's ports, because of terrorism concerns, was high on the agenda of the meeting of regional shippers.

Addressing delegates at the opening Monday, Prime Minister Sam Hinds urged a guard against threats of terrorism.

Mr. Hinds noted that the international movement of ships and cargo, together with their care, safety and security, are governed and facilitated by a number of international conventions and codes developed by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) with the aim of fulfilling the main objectives of safer shipping and cleaner oceans.

In its 32-year history, this was the first time that the CSA was meeting in this country.