Procedures and Processes. The Provider will:
Procedures and Processes. At present, to the extent information concerning requirements of Liberia’s border authorities (laws, regulations, notifications) is made publicly available, it is said to be “published,” by one or more of the following means- • handbills • Official Gazette • commercial newspapers • posted at government offices/distributed by government authorities • Internet
Procedures and Processes procedures for the management and implementation of the relevant discipline-specific plans;
Procedures and Processes. There do not appear to be any formal procedures or instructions for the implementation of a general enquiry point or trade help desk or ombudsman or other import/export information service. In practice, two of the border agencies we assessed do operate an information center where, we were advised, stakeholders can visit and obtain information from dedicated staff as well as copies of required forms and documents. These include the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s Customer Service Center, which is located outside the Ministry’s offices in Monrovia.
Procedures and Processes. Customs stakeholders advised that stakeholder engagement is incorporated in the overall LRA strategic plan and Customs business plan4, and that Customs has recently received training from the WCO on stakeholder engagement. They advise that LRA meets on a quarterly basis with its stakeholders (brokers, terminal operators, shipping lines, BIVAC, and industry association representatives) to discuss the performance of all border actors; that consultations are conducted according to an agenda, and that action points are proposed and results from prior actions are reported. Other border agencies have not yet established a similar level of formal procedures or practices for carrying out consultations with stakeholders, although we are advised that some of these authorities report that they meet with their stakeholders on a periodic or “as needed” basis.
Procedures and Processes. There do not appear to be any additional implementing measures, instructions, guidelines or information about appeals that have been published and made available to traders, whether under the customs laws or other laws. Apart from the appeal procedure defined in the Revenue Code, stakeholders advised that importers who disagree with decisions by customs officers at the port (such as the valuation of imported goods or amount of duty assessed) do make “appeals” to the Customs headquarters office, which may overturn the port decision. This appeal procedure does not appear to be defined in regulations or (as yet) published. However, according to LRA stakeholders, a first level appeal can be made to the Senior Collector at the port, then to the Commissioner, who refers to an appeal committee (essentially, the senior technical level staff person or persons), then to the legal team at the LRA and finally, if the appellant is not satisfied, to the Board of Tax Appeals. These stakeholders further advised that decisions are taken in three days if all information is provided, according to “service standards”. According to stakeholders, in practice, Customs provides written reasons for decisions. We were advised that, for example, a standard form or template has been developed by Customs to allow officers to record their decisions, which is provided to the declarant. Stakeholders advised that Quarantine provides an inspection form to the importer. Other Issues According to the WTO Working Party Report, the formal judicial system is “hampered by severe shortages of qualified judges and judicial officers”. WT/ACC/LBR/23 at 18. In its accession to the WTO, Liberia made a commitment to establish independent administrative AND judicial appeal procedures for matters subject to WTO provisions, and that the tribunals or procedures responsible for such reviews would be impartial and independent of the agency entrusted with administrative enforcement and would not have any substantial interest in the outcome of the matter. WT/ACC/LBR/23 at 19.
Procedures and Processes. Customs does not conduct tests on imported goods for the purposes of customs laws, and does not have a laboratory facility to do so. As noted under the discussion of TFA Article 5.2, above, Quarantine does not appear to be fully included in the examination of goods at the Freeport in the clearance process and therefore does not appear to be in a position there to take samples for testing purposes. In any event, we were advised that due to a lack of resources, including inspection and test kits, Quarantine at present only carries out documentary checks and visual examination at the border (to determine, for example, whether the goods are the same as those described in the import permit issued by the Ministry of Agriculture). We were advised that the Ministry of Agriculture has a laboratory but that its capacity is limited. According to MoCI regulations, a list of products require an IPD for importation and are subject to testing and analysis and, if found to be non-compliant with “nationally adopted or internationally accepted quality standards”, will be treated as prohibited imports. Administrative Notice MoCI/No.002/12/2015 (December 1, 2015)(Updated List of Specific Products and Commodities Requiring Import Permit Declarations) MoCI has established a National Standards Laboratory. –
Procedures and Processes. As indicated in the discussion above, legislation authorizing imposition of fees generally requires the amount of the fees to be prescribed or fixed by regulation of a Minister; that is, the fee amount is generally not fixed in the authorizing legislation itself but requires a further act of the Minister. However, we were unable to confirm that the Minister has issued any such regulations concerning the fee amounts. Or, if any such regulations exist, they do not appear to be “easily accessible”. Nevertheless, whether or not “prescribed by regulation”, certain fees on import and export are in practice imposed by customs and other border authorities, including the following -
Procedures and Processes. There does not appear to have been any analysis conducted to justify the fee amount in terms of recovery of Customs costs. There do not appear to be internal procedures or instructions established for periodic reviews of customs processing fees to ensure amounts do not exceed the approximate cost of services provided and other purposes described in TFA Article 6.
