In its continued program of support to its Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise members and those in the wid-er Business Community, the St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce is hosting another E-Seminar on April 28th 2021 from 5:00pm. This seminar will provide vital information to the important MSME Sector that, if applied, will en-hance their operations.
Many firms are engaged in Import/Export as central elements of their Business Model. Unfortunately, the Customs Laws and Regulators that aim to protect Government revenue, restrict the movement of illegal and illicit goods, while facilitating trade are generally opaque and unclear to business people particularly MSMEs.
Most businesses often rely on Customs Brokers to conduct their transactions, without realizing that they re-main liable for the actions and declarations made on their behalf.
This Seminar seeks to inform business persons of the critical information they need to better navigate their businesses through the tricky process of importing/exporting.
The seminar will primarily be delivered by Mr. Nigel Edwin, Trade and Customs Advisor, he is also the Adminis-trator of Institute of Customs and Trade, and will discuss the Role of Customs in Business Facilitation. Mr. Ed-win is a retired Public Servant who served in the position of Director of International Trade at the Department of Commerce. Mr. Edwin worked at the Customs and Excise Department for over 30 years. Mr Edwin rose to the position of Deputy Comptroller of Customs.
The other key presenter is Mr. Andrew Satney, an International Trade Expert who has worked at the National, Regional & International level. Mr. Satney, currently serves as the Executive Director of the St. Kitts Chamber of Industry & Commerce.
A number of critical topics will be explored including;
- The Role of the Customs and Excise Department
- The WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement and its benefits to the private sector
- The Impact of Customs functions on business competitiveness
- Analysis of the Trading Across borders component of the 2020 Doing Business Report
- Trade Facilitation and its benefits to the Business Sector
- Challenges Business people face when dealing with Customs
- Strategies to employ to ensure better service from the Customs Department