Haiti - Cap-Haitien : More than a billion gourdes of customs revenue in 2 months
The Haitian customs of Cap-Haitien, the second largest in Haiti, have reported a little over a billion gourdes (about $ 15 million) in the past two months. Customs officials attribute these satisfactory results to a series of measures adopted by the General Directorate of Customs to ensure better control of imports and exports, fight against corruption, smuggling and tax evasion, which affect the smooth operation of customs services.
According to the Senate Standing Committee Against Corruption, the Haitian state would lose more than $500 million every year between smuggling and tax evasion at customs and at the border.
Among the measures taken by the customs of Cap-Haitien include : training and the increase of the number of employees, the modernization of the logistics service and an increase in security.
However, these new provisions that show positive results, are widely criticized and have been the target of several demonstrations. Protesters demanding the departure of Director Jean Eric Eustache and his brigade, accusing the customs service of complicating and overloading the procedure for sending the goods and also criticizing the fact that the costs of certain customs tariffs have quadrupled over the last 10 years in recent years, which would have the effect, according to the protesters, of reducing the volume of commercial activities and impoverishing the population.
