…businesses also have option to seek trusted trader’s status
The clearing of goods by the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) is one of the many aspects of doing business in Guyana. As part of the many improvements being made by the tax agency, businesses importing goods have been enjoying expedited clearing of those goods, thus improving the ease of doing business.
This was revealed by GRA Comptroller Rohan Beekhoo, who, in a recent presentation to a seminar on illicit trade organised by the Private Sector Commission (PSC), revealed that the agency has been able to cut down on the length of time it takes to clear goods, so much so that goods can be cleared within three days.
“We have also been training the customs brokers, because we recognise that customs brokers also play a huge role in trying to serve as a deterrent (to illicit trade). They can advise their clients accordingly, about the proper rates, the proper classification.
“The value, the process of clearing the goods. We have removed the red tape from clearance of goods. At one time it used to be one month. We have moved that to clearance within three days,” the GRA official explained.
The clearing of goods, which once took weeks, is now being done within a matter of days
Beekhoo also spoke of the trusted trader’s status that compliant businesses could apply for, which would not only improve their ease of doing business even more, but also help protect legitimate businesses from those seeking to benefit from illicit trade.
“We also urge you, as I’m here, to apply for the trusted trader’s status that GRA offers. The trusted trader’s status would basically, if you meet the requirements, it brings your business up to a point where we now have that confidence in you to reduce the number of checks, reduce the frequency of checks, the type of documentation that we need.
“But not only that. By bringing you on board as a trusted trader, we’re now building our database and our intel on your products, so that when the competition, or the smuggler or other people, try to bring those items to undervalue, we have the relevant information we need to address, and at the very least, to level the playing field,” Beekhoo further said.
The Guyana Revenue Authority
Earlier this year, the government had won plaudits when the Investment Climate Report (2024) on Guyana was released by the United States (US) State Department. In that report, it was noted that Guyana continues to make strides in attracting international investors. One of the factors for this was the government’s efforts to improve the ease of doing business, including the launch of the single-window system.
“Guyana aims to provide a welcoming business environment for international investors and has already shown some success. Business registration times have been reduced from three weeks to less than one week, and the Government of Guyana is developing a single-window programme for permits,” the report, which evaluated the investment climate of over 160 countries around the world and whether they have adopted Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) norms, had said.
This is particularly the case with the Housing Ministry’s Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) single-window system, which will see agencies such as the Central Board of Health; the River and Defence Board; the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC); the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); the Guyana Fire Service (GFS); the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA); the National Trust of Guyana; Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest), and the Deeds Registry also getting on board.
The single-window system features five key elements including one-window access to allow the CH&PA to be the point of entry for planning and building applications as well as a dashboard to show the status of individual applications and generate progress reports, which can also be accessed by applicants. Another feature of the system is a time-bound element by which the relevant agencies will have to respond to applications, otherwise they would automatically be considered approved.
In 2022, GRA collected a total of $176 billion in revenue. This included $27.1 billion in import duties, which were collected and paid into the Consolidated Fund. Meanwhile, export duties collected amounted to $84.4 million, stamp duties were $72.6 million, and environmental levies were $2.7 billion.
