Georgetown: The Customs [Amendment of Schedules] Bill, intended to amend the Schedules to the Customs Act, Chapter 82:01, was read and passed in the National Assembly Wednesday.
In essence, the Harmonised System is a universal language for customs and trade organisations the world over. By using a system such as this, no two products would have the same six-digit codes and would eliminate confusion where multiple product versions and products fall into one classification of an item.
The Customs [Amendment of Schedules] Bill is critical as Guyana moves to be compliant with international obligations. It is essentially an upgraded version of the Bill passed in 2007, which has since become outdated.
With Guyana upgrading to the current system, we open the window for the trade of products that would have come into the system since the expiration of the previous schedule, which would have ended since 2012.
Minister Jordan explained that “it is used by governments, international organisations, and the private sector, as a tool for the basis of customs tariffs, international trade statistics, freight tariffs, internal taxes, trade policies, transportation statistics, rules of origin, price monitoring, quota controls, monitoring of controlled goods, compilation of national accounts and economic research and analysis hence it is truly a universally and internationally accepted economic language, leading to its indispensability in international trade.”
This system is upgraded every five years, as a means to reflect the constant changes in trade patterns, technology, environmental issues, clarification of texts and simplification to reinforce the multipurpose nature of the system, taking into consideration the various needs of the users.
With the Bill’s passage, Guyana is prepared to introduce the 2017 version which will, in turn, ensure that Guyana is compliant with international trade obligations while ensuring consistent laws to facilitate trade and protect Guyana’s revenues.
“The Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System, otherwise known as the Harmonised System or HS, is an international multipurpose nomenclature for the classification of products. It was developed by the World Customs Organisation, it consists of 21 sections, divided into 97 chapters which comprise about 5,000 commodity classes, each identified by a six-digit code arranged in a legal and logical structure to ensure uniformity in classification, approximately 98 per cent of merchandise in international trade is classified in terms of HS, and is employed by more than 180 countries worldwide,” the finance minister explained.
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