JCA an integral part of Jamaica
JAMAICA CUSTOMS Agency plays an integral part in all our lives, enforcing regulations related to health, safety and quality, collecting revenue to support the State’s development initiatives and importantly, facilitating the efficient movement of goods in and out of Jamaica to
stimulate growth in agriculture, manufacturing, export and other productive sectors of the economy.
A key competitive indicator for Jamaica is the cost and processes required to trade across borders and Customs has over the years made many strides towards improvement through the implementation of various initiatives, the most current of which is the Automated System for Customs Data. As the manufacturing sector is required to retool and innovate, Jamaica Customs has to do likewise, reinventing itself and becoming a driver of competitiveness.
To become effective managers and facilitators, the mining of critical data captured by Jamaica Customs is central in guiding strategies to cut cost for its clients and/or increase revenue, but most important, to generate higher volumes of trade, through better trade facilitation and proper risk management. This data is also important in guiding the development of policy and strategies both within the Government and private sector, for import substitution and export expansion.
It is important that the business community familiarises itself with the role and work of Jamaica Customs, provide input on legislative, procedural and system changes, to ensure that we are at all times moving in accord and make changes to our own business practices or infrastructure required.
The Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association is pleased to celebrate with Customs the week of January 22-27, as they showcase and inform their stakeholders on their work and advance the theme ‘Data Analysis for Effective Border Management’. METRY SEAGA President Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association