PM Says Action Underway Over Alleged Customs Corruption at Santa Elena Border

Prime Minister John Briceño says the government is actively addressing allegations of longstanding corruption at the Santa Elena Border involving the payment of customs duties on imported vehicles.  Recent media reports suggest that for years a scheme operated between some customs officers, brokers and car dealers, where importers were charged a higher amount for duties while only a portion was officially recorded for government revenue, with the remaining funds allegedly shared among those involved.  The Prime Minister confirmed the issue has been brought to the attention of authorities and corrective measures are already underway. He noted that while enforcement will tighten, dealers were first given an opportunity to regularize their operations.

John Briceño, Prime Minister of Belize: “We’ve been concerned and we knew that something was not working well. So what we did the last two December’s ago we decided that we would then insist on that you bring your official document where you buy your bill of sale to be able to set the tax and to remove all the latitude that customs officers had. But when we attempted to introduce that new policy and a part which is also law, we had then the dealers, you know, they started agitating and wanting to close the borders. You guys were making a big deal about it. And so we felt okay that they were saying that we’re not given enough time. So we pulled it back and said okay we’re going to give you enough time. So all of last year we’ve been informing them, informing them this is coming, this is coming. And now that it is in effect, what has happened? That now people are starting to pay more taxes and I suspect that these very same people who were happy to pay the kick back now that they can’t do that now they’re starting to leak the information. I suspect, I don’t know. What’s important is that that practice has been stopped.”

Briceño added that government is also examining broader reforms within the importation system. One of the measures under consideration is restricting or banning salvaged vehicles, which he says has been another avenue used to undervalue imports and avoid the full payment of duties.

John Briceño, Prime Minister of Belize: “I’m supposed to be meeting with the comptroller of customs I think it is on Friday along with the Financial Secretary because now what we need to do is to look at the taxes. When you add all of the taxes involved it comes up to some estimates is that it comes up to between 50% and 70% which is way too high. I believe that now that we have removed all of that discretionary powers from customs officers I think we need to look at how we can a number of things one is to reduce the taxes somewhat. Secondly salvaged vehicles are not allowed in the United States, they’re not allowed in most of the islands CARICOM countries. They’re not allowed in Central Americas so we may need to consider tightening up on the bringing in of salvaged vehicles to evade customs and then you buy a vehicle looking pretty and then a few months later it’s falling apart. And lastly we are also looking at starting to just ban the importation of these very old vehicles that come. They pollute the air, the parts it’s very expensive to upkeep, the fuel that they use so we’re thinking of maybe just allowing vehicles no more than ten years old to be able to be imported into Belize. So a number of things, initiatives that we’ve taken to be able to tighten up with the customs and to ensure that we could collect the taxes that our people deserve but at the same time we do not overtax our citizens.”

The Prime Minister says the objective is to protect government revenue while ensuring fairness for legitimate importers who comply with the law. Authorities are expected to continue reviewing procedures at the western border as part of wider customs enforcement efforts.