Month / December 2012

by Mike Poverello

Customs 2013 – the Year of Innovation

web_innovationWhile contemplating next year’s challenges and opportunities, I suppose it’s not a bad time to reflect on the WCO‘s theme for Customs Inc. in 2013. The Secretary General of the WCO, Kunio Mikuriya, is pleased to announce that 2013 will be dedicated to promoting innovation under the slogan “Innovation for Customs progress”. He believes that WCO Members and their partners will have the opportunity to promote innovative ideas and practices that they have implemented, new partnerships that they have developed, as well as creative solutions and technologies that they have adopted. Customs and its stakeholders are urged to be innovative and creative in taking forward the innovation theme in all its facets throughout 2013.

The Year of innovation will be launched on International Customs Day, celebrated annually by the global Customs community on 26 January in honour of the inaugural session of the Customs Co-operation Council (CCC) which took place on 26 January 1953.

Considering the age of the WCO (CCC), I thought the pictures below might conjure up some yesteryear profiles of male and female customs officers. These come from a book A Ladybird ‘Easy-Reading’ Book – ‘People at Work’ – The CUSTOMS OFFICER, which was around when I was a youngster in primary school. Needless to say, the content is perhaps meaningless where the period ‘gate-keeper’ approach to customs control has since been superseded by ‘automated risk management’, i.e. where a computer tells a customs officer what to search for, or what is suspicious or worthwhile expending energy on. Passenger processing has likewise seen a revolution in technology aids and controlled procedures. In many places it is the biometric reader which ‘facilitates’ expedited passenger/traveller processing. While verbal interrogation is still used it is merely a ‘level’ in the ‘layered’ approach in the modern customs risk management process. X-ray body scanners and drug-loo’s complete the customs officer’s enforcement toolkit. Yet, it still takes the ingenuity of a customs officer (and many instances his detector dog) to raise the ‘portcullis’ on crime.

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by Mike Poverello

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for “What Happened to the Portcullis?“. A special thanks to everyone who has browsed regularly, commented or contributed to this blog. I am deeply grateful and appreciative! Mike

Here’s an excerpt:

4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 52,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 12 Film Festivals

Click here to see the complete report.

by Mike Poverello

Is Google moving into box tracking?

container-trackingThe US Patent and Trademark Office has granted Internet search giant Google a patent on a system for securing, monitoring and tracking containers. According to United States Patent 8284045, it describes a two-way communication system, supported by an electronic bolt seal, a network gateway, a web-based platform, and a mobile device, that allows containers to be networked for the transfer of data. Shipping containers are networked for transferring data between the shipping containers. The shipping containers include sensors for detecting conditions associated with the shipping containers. The conditions sensed by any shipping container whether transported by rail or ship is transmitted from an ad hoc network, via a gateway configured for satellite or cellular communications for example, to a container-tracking application server or equivalent computer system. The computer system is remotely located to the shipping container for central compilation, analysis, and/or display of data regarding the shipping containers.

The system describes an environmental sensor that can travel with a product within a carrier’s logistics network. The environmental sensor being configured to sense an environmental condition capable of affecting the product to generate product environment data. The system includes a scanner configured to read product environment data from the environmental sensor. The system also includes a hub control unit configured to communicate with the scanner and receive the product environment data from the scanner and determines whether the product environment data transcends a limit of exposure of the product to an environmental condition. The hub control unit is also configured to generate a transporting instruction to redirect transport of the product to an alternate destination different from its original destination if the hub control unit determines that the product environment data indicates the environmental condition of the product has transcended the limit of exposure. What a mouthful! I dare say that there are people out there that can decipher the patent content and relate to its various diagrams. If you are interested in this topic, please visit the following link – http://www.archpatent.com/patents/8284045. Also visit the Patent Buddy for similar information. Hopefully as the business case for this patent unfolds things may become a bit more clearer – and perhaps a little sinister too for some!

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by Mike Poverello

Malaysian Customs Ivory Bust in pictures

1,500 pieces of tusks seized at the Royal Malaysian Customs were hidden in wooden crates, purpose-built to look like stacks of sawn timber! The following pictures illustrate the Malaysian Customs ivory bust in progress. Pictures courtesy of WWF Singapore (their Facebook Page) – . Also see full report at  http://www.traffic.org/home/2012/12/11/massive-african-ivory-seizure-in-malaysia.html.

From outside, it looks like a pile of wood. Smugglers went to great lengths to hide the 1,500 pieces of Elephant tusks they were transporting from Togo to China via Malaysia.
Hmm… a little suspicious Smugglers went to great lengths to hide the 1,500 pieces of Elephant tusks they were transporting from Togo to China via Malaysia. But they got caught! Thanks to the Royal Malaysian Customs.
Remove the top…. Smugglers went to great lengths to hide the 1,500 pieces of Elephant tusks they were transporting from Togo to China via Malaysia. But they got caught! Thanks to the Royal Malaysian Customs.
Peel another layer off! Smugglers went to great lengths to hide the 1,500 pieces of Elephant tusks they were transporting from Togo to China via Malaysia.
What’s that? A secret compartment! Smugglers went to great lengths to hide the 1,500 pieces of Elephant tusks they were transporting from Togo to China via Malaysia.
Voila! The smuggled goods are revealed! Smugglers went to great lengths to hide the 1,500 pieces of Elephant tusks they were transporting from Togo to China via Malaysia.

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by Mike Poverello

Massive Ivory Stash Seized In Malaysia

 

Malaysian Customs officers uncovered illegal ivory concealed within secret compartments in a shipment. (Getty Images)

Malaysian Customs officers uncovered illegal ivory concealed within secret compartments in a shipment. (Getty Images)

The Royal Malaysian Customs has received congratulatory messages from South Africa and the World Customs Organisation after thwarting one of the biggest ivory smuggling operations in recent memory. On Monday, Selangor Customs had seized 24 tonnes of elephant tusks and ivory worth US$20 million (RM60 million) in Port Klang from a China-bound ship that is believed to have sailed from Togo.

It is estimated that 750 elephants were killed to produce the quantum of tusks and ivory that was seized. To date, this is the biggest seizure of its kind in Malaysia. Confirming the seizure, Selangor Customs corporate communications chief Mohd Zhafri Johari explained:  “In the China market, ivory could fetch a price of approximately US$25,000 per kilogramme”.

Those arrested will be charged in court under Section 133(1)(a) of the Customs Act 1967 for false declaration and under the Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. This international treaty was drawn up in 1973 to protect wildlife against over-exploitation and to prevent international profiteering which involved threatening of species.

Zhafri also noted that the smuggling of ivory through Port Klang was a rare occurrence prior to 2011. Since then, however, customs have made at least three major seizures. The seized ivory is now considered government property and will be destroyed upon completion of investigation and prosecution of the suspected parties. The 1,500-odd tusks were found in two containers. Although shipping documents listed the containers’ final destination as Port Klang, customs intelligence said the containers were planned to be sent to China. Source: Thesundaily.com

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by Mike Poverello

Comesa adopts IT system to boost trade in the region

Workers offload imported sugar at the port of Mombasa. Comesa has already gazetted transit goods routes, which have been geo-fenced and trucks following these routes will be monitored. Photo/File Nation Media Group

Workers offload imported sugar at the port of Mombasa. Comesa has already gazetted transit goods routes, which have been geo-fenced and trucks following these routes will be monitored. Photo/File Nation Media Group

A new online system being implemented by the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) trading bloc is expected to cut down non-tariff barriers, reduce the cost of doing business and improve intra-regional trade.

The $1 million (Sh84 million) system – which is being developed by Comesa and funded by the European Union – could for instance cut transport costs by up to 40 per cent, Comesa secretary-general Sindiso Ngwenya said.

With three main modules – Transit Bonds, Risk Management and Cargo Tracking — the Comesa Virtual Trade Facilitation System (CVTFS) aims at integrating systems used by regional revenue authorities, transporters, shippers, clearing agents, ports and customs to provide real-time information and facilitate uninterrupted movement of goods across borders.

Besides tracking cargo from origin to destination, the system will facilitate management of transit bonds and capture electronic data contained in the customs seal and assign this information to customs offices at various transit points.

Comesa has already gazetted transit goods routes which have been geo-fenced and trucks following these routes will be monitored. In case seals are tampered with, owners will automatically be notified via Short Message Services (SMSs) or email. Owners who register their trucks with the system will display a ‘Comesa Transit’ plate on their vehicles.

Delays along the major transport corridors arising from lengthy procedures at weight control points and police road blocks within the region have been identified as major non-tariff barriers hindering trade.

Mr Charles Muita, a member of the team that worked on the system and who made the presentation, said they expected most of the countries where industry players do not have their own systems to quickly adopt CVTFS. “The system does not intend to replace the ones used by member countries but would integrate them to achieve a seamless flow of information and documentation,” Mr Ngwenya said during the sensitisation at the Mombasa Beach Hotel.

Truckers buy the fleet management system at Sh24,000 and pay an average of Sh2,000 management fee per month.“We are not interested in making money with the system and the initial cost of the gadget will be less than Sh12,000 and a monthly management fee of about $3 (Sh255),” explained Mr Ngwenya.

The sensitisation in Comesa member states aims at getting volunteers for a free pilot project that will run for three months starting next month. Source: Business Daily Africa.com

by Mike Poverello

Africa – China’s Export Route to the U.S.?

AGOA_W1The Africa Growth and Opportunity Act intends to support African exports to US markets. It is helping savvy Chinese companies too. US-Africa trade received a boost with the signing of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) back in May 2000, which enabled African countries to export over 4,000 products, including apparel, quota-free and duty-free to the US.

Geared to support the integration of African countries into global markets, AGOA has enjoyed broad cross-party support in a usually fraught US legislature – especially on issues of foreign trade – and has been renewed several times. Helping Africa, it seems, is something everyone can agree on.

But they might, unwittingly, have been helping China too. Research by Lorenzo Rotunno and colleagues at the Centre for the Study of African Economies, Oxford University, suggests that savvy Chinese companies have set up shop in Africa as a route to get their products into the US with all the AGOA benefits.

The entrepreneurs’ logic is impeccable. Not only could an Africa platform get them duty free access to US markets, they could also avoid heavy quotas on China’s exports to the US, imposed through previous protectionist measures by the rich world, such as the Multi-Fiber Agreement.

Because AGOA did not contain ‘rules of origin’ provisions, the door is wide open for such creative thinking. “Restrictive quotas on Chinese apparel exports in the US and preferential treatment for African exports resulted in quota-hopping transhipment from China to the US via AGOA countries” the researchers say.

Chinese and Taiwanese producers are now said to comprise the bulk of a textile “diaspora” in Lesotho, Madagascar and Kenya. In one Kenyan processing zone, 80% of the 34 garment plants had Asian owners. While some outfits doubtless have in-country assembly – and therefore generate jobs and incomes for Africans – a number are little more than transporting docks for foreign-sourced, fully assembled goods ready to go to their final destination, tax free.

Chinese entrepreneurs made no bones about it. In one survey, they gave ‘taking advantage of international trade agreements’ in their top five list of motives for investing and operating in Africa. Source: AllAfrica.com 

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by Mike Poverello

Beitbridge congestion – Travellers tear-gassed by SA police

border-lines

Zimbabwean Police are set to meet their South African counterparts following an incident in which the South African officers used tear gas to control travellers at their side of the border last Friday morning. The majority of the travellers were Zimbabweans, with others coming from countries north of the Zambezi.

The South African Police Services (SAPS) used tear smoke to control travellers at around 9am as the number of human traffic started increasing at Beitbridge Border Post.

No one was injured in the incident which lasted for about 15 minutes when people started showing their discontent with the slow way they were being cleared by immigration officials from that country.

Some travellers started jumping queues after they had spent between three and four hours waiting to gain passage into South Africa. Police officer commanding Beitbridge district Chief Superintendent Lawrence Chinhengo said yesterday that the incident was a great cause for concern.

“This was a very unfortunate incident. We are not happy with the method our counterparts used to control queues and have since communicated to them that we need to have an urgent bilateral meeting to iron out the issue. There are better ways to manage people rather than the tear smoke. It is of paramount importance that we meet and find better ways to control crowds during this festive season,” he said. Source: Bulawayo24.com

For more insight also read “Zim travellers stranded at border post” on zoutnet.co.za.

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by Mike Poverello

Outcome of Revision of ISO Seal Standard closes 23 December

High security bolt seal on Shipping_container.

High security bolt seal on Shipping container. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The International Seal Manufacturers Association has informed that ISO is conducting an up-or-down ballot on an important revision to ISO17712. The revision addresses the difficulties with implementing Clause 6 of ISO 17712:2000.

The essence of the revision is –

  • The revision removes the requirement for independent lab testing for tamper evidence.
  • The revision adds a mandatory requirement for development and approval of tamper evident improvement programs. The programs must pass independent audits in accordance with ISO 9001 and ISO 17712 Normative Annex A, “Seal manufacturers’ security-related practices.” Audits would review the results of any internal testing related to tamper-evident features.

The mandatory requirement applies to high security “H” seals, which are most relevant to marine containers. Indicative “I” and Security “S” seal participation is optional in this proposed amendment.

The ballot is for ISO FDIS 17712; a FDIS is a Final Draft International Standard. Ballots are cast by national standards bodies such as the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the British Standards Institute (BSI), “one nation, one vote”. Each national body determines its vote by its own procedures, usually based on a poll of its members. Since the ballot closes 23 December, we expect the results to be known early in January. 

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by Mike Poverello

Beit Bridge – ZIMRA and Immigration gear up for congestion

beitbridge

Beitbridge – crossing the Limpopo river

The Department of Immigration in Beitbridge has put in place mechanisms aimed at dealing with congestion at the country’s busiest border post in anticipation of an increase in the volume of traffic during the festive period. Assistant regional immigration manager in charge of Beitbridge Border Post, Mr Charles Gwede, said they have since held a series of meetings with key stakeholders and their South African counterparts to address congestion at the border.

“We have started preparing for the festive period in anticipation of a huge influx of travellers and all necessary strategies are now in place to help speed up the clearance of people during the festive period,” he said. “We are suspending leave and off-days for staff between 15 December and 16 January next year.

“As part of our decongestion drive we will scramble our shifts to maximise on manpower during the normal and extra peak days. In fact, starting from 15 December we expect a huge influx of travellers hence between 14 and 17 December, 21 and 24 December and 4 to 7 January, we will dissolve our shifts to ensure that we have more officers per shift who would effectively manage the queues and speed up the clearance process,” he said.

Mr Gwede said they were expecting 20 officers from other stations to beef up the local staff and ensure that all check points and counters were adequately manned. Beitbridge Border Post has a staff complement of 47 officers and support staff.

“As border stakeholders, we held several inter-border meetings with our South African counterparts to discuss and explore ways and strategies aimed at dealing with congestion during extra peak periods.

As part of their decongestion strategy, Mr Gwede said they would categorise travellers and create more counters to reduce queues. According to statistics, immigration officials at the border handled 73 825 travellers between Monday and Wednesday on both arrival and departure sides.

The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) spokesperson, Mr Canisio Mudzimu, said they would deploy relief officers to Beitbridge Border Post to beef up the local staff and help speed up the customs clearance process. “We are geared up in terms of facilitating the smooth movement of both human and vehicular traffic passing through Beitbridge Border Post during the festive season. We will deploy extra officers from less busy stations to Beitbridge Border Post during the festive period and to assist in border operations,” he said.

Beitbridge Border Post requires at least 247 customs officers to man it. The border post, which is the country’s busiest inland port of entry, has an establishment 141 officers. Mr Mudzimu said they would create separate traffic lanes to cater for tourists, returning residents, private motorists, commercial, buses and pedestrians to speed up the flow of traffic and reduce congestion.

Touts and bogus clearing agents continue to find their way into the customs yard where they would swindle unsuspecting travellers of their money under the guise of offering assistance. Beitbridge is the busiest inland port of entry in sub-Saharan Africa, which handles a huge volume of both human and vehicular traffic passing though daily. Commercial trucks destined for East and Central African countries such as Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia also pass through the border post.

On a normal day, the border handles between 6 000 and 8 000 travellers daily with the figures rising to 20 000 during the peak period. Source: Bulawayo24.com

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by Mike Poverello

New WCO Website

New look WCO WebsiteVisit the new WCO website. My impression is a very cool, uncluttered and refreshing design tailored for easy of use and the burgeoning social media space. Navigation is now a synch with the entire website content accessible via menu bar. Visit http://www.wcoomd.org/en.aspx now!

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by Mike Poverello

Dead Aid

Dead Aid - Dambisa MoyoFollowing my recent post – Want to Help? Shut up and listen! – I thought it appropriate to share a link to the referenced book “Dead Aid” by Zambian born economist Dambisa Moyo.

In Dead Aid, Dambisa Moyo describes the state of postwar development policy in Africa today and unflinchingly confronts one of the greatest myths of our time: that billions of dollars in aid sent from wealthy countries to developing African nations has helped to reduce poverty and increase growth. In the past fifty years, more than $1 trillion in development-related aid has been transferred from rich countries to Africa. Has this assistance improved the lives of Africans? No. In fact, across the continent, the recipients of this aid are not better off as a result of it, but worse—much worse.

In fact, poverty levels continue to escalate and growth rates have steadily declined—and millions continue to suffer. Provocatively drawing a sharp contrast between African countries that have rejected the aid route and prospered and others that have become aid-dependent and seen poverty increase, Moyo illuminates the way in which overreliance on aid has trapped developing nations in a vicious circle of aid dependency, corruption, market distortion, and further poverty, leaving them with nothing but the “need” for more aid.

Debunking the current model of international aid, Moyo offers a bold new road map for financing development of the world’s poorest countries that guarantees economic growth and a significant decline in poverty—without reliance on foreign aid or aid-related assistance. Dead Aid is an unsettling yet optimistic work, a powerful challenge to the assumptions and arguments that support a profoundly misguided development policy in Africa. And it is a clarion call to a new, more hopeful vision of how to address the desperate poverty that plagues millions. Source: www.dambisamoyo.com

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by Mike Poverello

Want to help? Shut up and listen!

The subject of “Aid” is perhaps the hottest topic on the African continent, but for a variety of reasons. I came across the following video clip which I believe hits the nail on the head when it comes to international donor aid. No doubt there will be many out there who will denounce the presenter, Ernest Sirolli’s message, but as an African myself I can attest to the many examples of wasted opportunity and bullying which has occurred and continues (till this day) by NGO’s who believe they know better than any what is good for this continent. Thanks to the egotism of most politicians it is easy for such NGO’s to bulldoze their way into lucrative contracts which in most instances never see the light of day, or are so poorly implemented by outsiders, that the target country inevitably has to start all over again at its own cost. Anglo-Saxon involvement and meddling is a particular case in point … brazenly advancing the argument of ‘saving Africa from the Africans!’ I have experienced this several times in the last 15 years. Africa to donors has become little more than a box of Lego – where handpicked consultants experiment – upending all the coloured blocks and after 5 years or more leave a pile of blocks in no better arrangement than what they found when they first arrived. Sadly, the ‘developed nations’ have gotten the whole world into a financial mess and, now more than ever, will apply pressure on African governments into newer and more lucrative deals, because there are no more opportunities in their own back yards. The methods are the same, even the players are the same, just the stakes are now higher. Why, because China and the East are now the new ‘trading partners’ with a bit more bargaining power. Enjoy the video!

About the speaker

Ernesto Sirolli is a noted authority in the field of sustainable economic development and is the Founder of the Sirolli Institute, an international non-profit organization that teaches community leaders how to establish and maintain Enterprise Facilitation projects in their community. The Institute is now training communities in the USA, Canada, Australia, England and Scotland.

In 1985, he pioneered in Esperance, a small rural community in Western Australia, a unique economic development approach based on harnessing the passion, determination, intelligence, and resourcefulness of the local people. The striking results of “The Esperance Experience” have prompted more than 250 communities around the world to adopt responsive, person-centered approaches to local economic development similar to the Enterprise Facilitation® model pioneered in Esperance. Source: TED.com

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by Mike Poverello

World’s Best (and Worst) Economies

Global Competitiveness Report 2012-13According to the WEF, competitiveness reflects the level of productivity of a country, based on its institutions, policies and economic factors. In its study, the WEF groups the 144 countries it surveys into one of three economic categories. “Factor-driven” economies are the least developed and rely on low-skilled labor and natural resources. More developed countries are considered “efficiency-driven” economies because they turn to improving output. The most developed economies, which focus on improving technology and new product and idea development, are considered “innovative.”

To create the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) score for each country, the WEF ranked more than 100 economic indicators divided into 12 broad categories, referred to as pillars, that quantify the extent to which a country is competitive. The economic indicators and pillars were then scored 1 to 7. To rank the countries, some economic measures were weighted more heavily than others, depending on how the economy was categorized.

Based on WEF’s Global Competitiveness Report, which ranks 144 countries that make up almost 99% of the world’s GDP, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the economies with the highest and lowest Global Competitiveness Index scores. Data from the World Bank and the World Health Organization were used to provide additional information on some economies.

For a summary of the results, read – The World’s Best (and Worst) Economies – 24/7 Wall St.

For the full report, a PDF download (<500 pages) is available from: World Economic Forum

For a view on the impact for South Africa, read – Global South Africans

by Mike Poverello

Cargo Inspection – SGS ready to hand over to Customs

NigerianCustoms-BadgeAt the wake of call by some stakeholders for extension of concession period for direct inspection (DI) service providers at the nation’s ports, one of them, Societe Generale de Surveillance SA (SGS) Scanning Nigeria Limited, has reiterated its readiness to handover its cargo scanners and related services under the DI scheme to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) by the end of this month in line with the concession contract it entered into with the federal government through the ministry of finance. SGS Scanning Nigeria Limited,having fulfilled its contractual obligations under the DI scheme, is looking forward to a smooth takeover of its DI activities by NCS officers from January 2013.

In 2005, SGS, along with two other service providers was awarded a seven-year contract that commenced in January 2006, to supply cargo scanning machines on a build, operate and transfer basis (BOT) as well as training services and technical support on risk management, valuation and classification.

SGS has delivered on the deployment of cargo scanners and also trained more NCS officers than was stipulated in its contract. In addition, the company, in August this year, concluded the special training of 80 Customs officers tagged ‘DI Transition Team’ at the NCS Ikeja Training School, as part of her winding down activities. Additionally, SGS carried out renovation of some of the NCS training school facilities and provided computers and other equipment.

Furthermore, SGS believes all the NCS officers sent to us for training have been well prepared to take over the DI activities as from January 2013. (Comment: One would hope that the article appended below – Nigerian Customs officials cannot operate scanners – is dated or otherwise inaccurate. It would be grossly unwise for any arm of government to undertake this responsibility unprepared.) The seven-year DI Scheme can be regarded as a transition phase from the former Pre-shipment Inspection Scheme(PIS) to the next phase of NCS development. Therefore, the conclusion of our DI contract on December 31 will be a milestone for NCS.

Having been in Nigeria for more than 50 years, SGS will continue to support the economic transformation efforts of government should the opportunity arise. The company has been in Nigeria since 1957. Source: Leadership (Abuja)

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