AG says removing post-clearance Post Clearance Audit Unit would create ‘chaos at the wharves’

…warns that GRA would have to scrutinize every item before clearance

Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC, has warned that if the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) is stripped of its post-clearance audit powers, Guyana’s ports would grind to a halt, with containers spending “months on the wharf.”

His comments came during his “Issues in the News” programme, where he addressed last week’s High Court ruling which found the GRA’s post-clearance audit system unlawful. Nandlall maintained that the ruling was wrong and explained why such audits are essential to the country’s import system.

According to the AG, Guyana receives about 100,000 containers every year, and without post-clearance audits, customs officers would have no choice but to examine every single item, in every single shipment, at the point of entry.

“If every importer is to be subjected to the scrutiny and the 100% examination item by item that a customs officer is required by law to conduct, then goods will take a duly long period of time to be cleared from the wharf… a container will take months on the wharf,” he said.

Nandlall warned that if the court ruling stands, “we will have chaos in this country.”

The AG reminded viewers that customs officers must verify the value of goods to prevent under-invoicing and fraud. Officers are allowed to question the value declared, call the seller, and even check market prices to ensure the importer is not presenting a false invoice.

“Two persons can’t conspire and fabricate a price so as to pay lower customs duties,” he said.

But if GRA is forced to perform this level of verification for every item upfront, the entire shipping system would collapse, Nandlall argued. Post-clearance audits allow customs to release goods quickly and revisit transactions later if discrepancies are found.

The AG stressed that taxes fund the state and crippling the GRA’s ability to collect them would have severe national consequences.

“When you attack the taxation authority of the state, you are striking at the lifeblood of the state. The state will grind to a financial halt… it draws its life from taxes,” he said.

He maintained that post-clearance audits have existed globally for decades and are a critical tool to recover short-paid duties or uncover fraud.

Without them, he said, GRA would be forced into a slow, manual, item-by-item inspection system that Guyana’s ports simply cannot sustain.

“If the judge’s decision is to be followed… we will have chaos at the wharves.”