30 March 2007
The Customs and Immigration Service has today published its first Annual Report. The Report covers the activities and results of the Service for the year 2006. A copy of the Report accompanies this News Release.
The Report speaks for itself but the following may be of particular interest:
Drugs importations
Although there was an overall decrease in the amount of drugs seized there was an increase in the seizure of Class A drugs and heroin in particular. This i s c onsistent with the Service’s strategy of focussing on these drugs which, it is universally agreed, cause the most harm. For many years the Service has adopted a policy of intelligence led policing of the frontiers with the aim of catching the principals involved in drug smuggling. This is supplemented by the work of the officers at the frontiers who will use profiling and risk assessment techniques to help identify those persons bringing in the drugs. These two strands of drug enforcement work complement each other and have helped maintain the Service’s success.
Joint Customs and Immigration Frontiers Teams
In October 2006 the Service amalgamated the Immigration Border Control teams and the Customs Anti-Smuggling teams. The new structure saw Customs Officers and Immigration Officers working the same shifts to provide the frontier controls. A carefully planned training programme was put in place to help officers undertake their new increased responsibilities. This joint approach to the frontier controls gave the opportunity for the Service to allocate more officers to its Investigation Unit. The Unit is responsible for developing intelligence on criminals engaged in commercial drug smuggling and other Customs and Immigration offences.
Impôts Duty
Total impôts receipt s c ontinue, in general, to rise each year despite an actual decline in the amount of goods being put to duty. This is because the rates of duty are invariably increased at budget time. The main decline is in the amount of tobacco goods that are charged to duty. The decline has been consistent for a some time and in the last ten years there has been a 65% decrease. The Service believes that there are four main factors that have caused this decline. They are, in no particular order:
· Importations of duty free tobacco goods. The local tobacco industry have commissioned market research which indicates that at least 27% of locally consumed tobacco could be from duty free sources. The Service has no data that can be used to either verify or contradict this figure. There is no evidence or intelligence to suggest that large scale commercial smuggling of tobacco goods is taking place but there is no doubt that local smokers do avail themselves of every opportunity to take advantage of the duty free allowances.
· The increase in duty levels for tobacco, in line with the Island ’s Tobacco Strategy, means higher prices which provide a strong disincentive.
· Heightened awareness of the health issues has continued to influence the change in attitude towards smoking.
· A decline in tourist numbers has resulted in a reduced local market for tobacco products.
Biometric Passports
The introduction of the first phase of Biometric passports, facial recognition, was completed on time and within budget. The Service worked in partnership with Guernsey, the Isle of Man and Gibraltar to introduce the new systems required in the most cost effective way. Work has already commenced to examine the practicalities for the introduction of the next phase of Biometric passports which will be fingerprint recognition and is due to be in place in 2010.
The Assistant Minister for Home Affairs, Deputy Andrew Lewis , says:
“This Annual Report reflects the excellent work done by the Customs and Immigration Service. I know that the whole of the Service is dedicated to serving the Island. The importation of drugs and the movement of illegal immigrants, in particular, are issues that should concern us all - it is vital for the well being of the Island that we continue to have effective Customs and Immigration controls in place.”
Mike Robinson, the Head of Service, says:
“I am very pleased to present this first Annual Report since the Customs & Excise and Immigration & Nationality Departments were merged. I am able to report a very successful year due to the professionalism and commitment of our officers and the experienced management team. The next few years will bring challenges to the Service and will see our workload continue to increase whilst resources, particularly staffing levels, may actually have to decline due to pressures in our budget. We will all do our best to continue with the good work and to minimise the effects of any reduction in the services we provide.”
gov.je