The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) is presently facilitating training for Customs Patrol Officers whose duties involve patrolling of air and sea ports, securing goods and revenues, and boarding and rummaging of vessels and aircraft.
The training, which commenced in April and will conclude this month, aims to provide Customs Patrol Officers with the working knowledge of Customs Laws/Regulations and Customs Procedures. This will equip them with the necessary skills to perform their duties in an effective and efficient manner.
Among the areas of focus are Customs and Trade Legislation, Prohibitions and Restrictions, Water Guard Functions, Boarding, Preventative Work and Surveillance, Warehousing, Excise Legislation, Identification of Customs Documents, Profiling of Passengers, Reporting of Vessels and Aircraft, Goods in Transshipment and Transits, Coasting Trade, Postal Traffic, Search of Vessels and Aircraft (Rummaging), Anti-Smuggling, Detention, Seizure and Arrest, Note Taking, basic Report Writing and Escorts.
The Patrol Officer function, which is governed under the provisions for officers in Section 212 of the Customs Act, was revived by the GRA in 2016 after a lengthy hiatus. The Act states that any officer, when on duty, may patrol upon and pass freely on foot or otherwise, along and over and enter any part of Guyana other than a dwelling-house, and any such officer so proceeding shall not be liable to any criminal or civil proceedings for so doing.
