The Seychelles Revenue Commission (SRC), has this week welcomed a delegation from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on a ten-day working mission into the Seychelles, to conduct a training on the ‘UNODC-WCO Container Control Programme (CCP).
The theoretical training set to empower customs officers and related agencies dealing with importation at all ports of entry started on 12 February will proceed until 23 February.
Facilitated by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the Seychelles Revenue Commission (SRC), the 15 participants in attending the sessions comprises of the Seychelles Ports Authority (SPA), the Seychelles Police Force, and the Seychelles National Biosecurity Agency.
An opening ceremony was held at the Eden Bleu Hotel on Monday 12 February 2024, to officially start the training and allow the participants the chance to meet with the facilitators.
Akosita Valamalua; first Pacific islander to join the WCO as Expert Trainer at the World Customs Organization Asia Pacific office based in Brussels is one of the trainer delivering the session, experienced in the field of customs and transformation having worked at the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service.
Second Facilitator, Edmund Landy Tei; the CCP Regional Trainer for East and Southern Africa, holds 18 years of experience as a drug law enforcement officer after having worked in the Narcotics Control Commission of Ghana before joining the CCP as a trainer for West Africa in 2015.
Speaking at the event the SRC’s Commissioner of Customs, Mr. Paul Barrack, commended the participants for their interest in the training and the importance of taking advantage of such capacity building opportunity.
“Amidst the ongoing effort to improve our risk management capabilities, to better secure our borders, enhance supply chain security, and facilitate trade, this training has come at an opportune moment where our focus is on the prevention of narcotics and other illicit goods from being smuggled through our borders in containerized cargo.
“Through these collective efforts, I am confident that we will effectively strengthen the Seychelles monitoring system and increase efficiencies in devising mitigating actions to combat potential risks.
“For instance, through exchange of information, customs can improve its risk management, expedite the clearance of legitimate trade, mitigate revenue loss and improve the quality of its profiling resulting in more interception of prohibited and counterfeit goods”
Mr. Barrack concluded his address by thanking the UNODC, WCO and the European Union for their support in facilitating this training, as well as the stakeholders and partners for their participation.