LRA Boss on importance of customs

The Liberian Revenue Authority or LRA has celebrated the 66th Anniversary of International Customs Day in Monrovia under the theme, “A secure business environment for economic development.”

LRA Commissioner General Elfrieda Stewart Tamba, says customs in Liberia contributed about 42 percent of domestic revenue to the national budget.

She notes that customs is responsible to contribute to the fiscal budget 200 million, and as of December 1, 2017 it has collected $104 million or about 52 percent of this amount.

Commissioner General Tamba emphasizes that customs officer and brokers have a national responsibility to ensure that trade across national broader is logout and that goods leaving and coming in the country’s customs territories through the international supply chains are safe.

She says the vision is to have a modern customs with stronger integrate, adding that Liberia has started the transformation process and there is much more to be done with funding and technical capacity as key.

Guest speaker for the program and CEO of Bella Casa Hotel, Amin Modad notes that Liberia achieved significant domestic progress over the past 12 years and has made even more significant strides in reintegration in the global trading system.

According to Mr. Modad, the country’s socio-economic state after 170 years is a testament that “we need to revisit our way of thinking, our priorities, and the structure in place that are responsible to implement our development agenda.”

He stresses that the national development strategy must focus on empowering Liberians to venture into agriculture, agro-processing and developing value chains around other resources for export, safety and national security.

Mr. Modad congratulates the LRA and customs officers for their evolution over the years and the role they played in sustaining the economy and supporting development here.

By Bridgett Milton-Editing by Jonathan Browne