Comptroller Of Customs Should Have Refused Bid From Oran Limited!

Snippet of a full page advertisment which the Comptroller of Customs published to advise Barbadians of public auction on July 30, 2008.

The BU household happened to be watching the CBC TV news tonight (24 August 2008) and viewed with interest the news item which featured the Barbados Customs Department. If our recall is correct, the Customs and Excise Department is celebrating Customs Week this week? The BU family can correct us if we are wrong. The Comptroller of Customs Joseph Best indicated in the brief excerpt we viewed that the customs department is the beneficiary of a loan which will help to beef-up the existing system of collecting customs and excise duties. The news item reminded us that we meant to blog about a concern we have which involves the Barbados Customs Department.

The Barbados Customs Department appears to have enormous powers under the laws of Barbados. The attitude demonstrated by many Customs Officers of humiliating ordinary Barbadians on a daily basis has become routine. Whether entering at one of our ports of entry, or when clearing packages received from relatives overseas, Barbadians usually cross their fingers when they have to clear packaged and baggage through customs. While we respect the work which the Customs Officers have to perform, their zeal to collect taxes from ordinary citizens can be softened if delivered with a smile. In fact they should deliver the service with the same attitude as they do to the big boys.

Many Barbadians eagerly look forward to the full page advertisement in the newspaper which notifies that the Customs Department will auction goods which have not been collected by importers/consignees. The BU family can see a snippet of such a notice above. We have it from good authority that some companies in Barbados have been engaged in a rather unsavory practice, this is how it works. Some well known companies import goods and for whatever reason they refuse to collect the shipment. These companies wait for when the Customs Department auction the goods originally imported by them and offer bids. The long and short of the story is the original importer or consignee of goods will bid for the goods, usually at a watered down price. We all know that ordinary Barbadians will never benefit from receiving lower prices.

Our source confirms that last week personnel from Oran Limited bid on items at an auction held at the old Seawell Airport Complex. The snippet above list items which were auctioned by customs and identifies several items originally consigned to Oran Limited but not cleared. The fact that the current system would have permitted Oran Limited to bid on items which they should have cleared away from the glare of a public auction is unacceptable. We understand that the situation got so ridiculous last week that the Auctioneer opened several pallets of ‘Oran Stock’ so that ordinary Barbadians could bid on smaller and more manageable ‘offers’. We understand the items were Corning and Visionware.

The notice publicized by Customs clearly state that importers/consignees of the items listed on the notice can make arrangement to settle duties before the auction date. Why would Oran Limited have ignored the opportunity to pay the duties on items imported by them, and prefer to risk collecting said items at a public auction?

It is not like they are insolvent!