Jamaica Customs has for a long time recognised the benefits of an automated process for clearance of commercial consignment of goods. Using on-shore resources, the Government of Jamaica was able to design and develop its own computerised declaration lodgement, payment and release system. As part of the ongoing modernisation process for customs it was recognised that to be truly effective this system need to be bolstered with risk management procedures led by valuation and intelligence.
In May 2002 Crown Agents mobilised to execute the World Bank-funded contract under the public sector modernisation program to implement Crown Agents' TIMS© software at Jamaica Customs. TIMS© implementation included price referencing, risk management and intelligence, and was integrated into the existing customs system designed locally by Fiscal Services Limited, the government's IT agency. Implementation and integration of TIMS© was successfully completed over a 12-month period, resulting in Jamaica Customs having the first integrated customs system of its kind in the Caribbean.
The benefits of TIMS© to Jamaica Customs have come from alerts directing officers to those transactions posing the greatest risk and the system has proved invaluable both in protecting Jamaican government revenues and also encouraging and facilitating the legitimate trading process.
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