By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Bahamian auto dealers have incurred extra charges and delays in delivering vehicle imports to customers due to difficulties in adapting to Customs’ new electronic clearance system.

Fred Albury, the Bahamas Motor Dealers Association’s (BMDA) president, told Tribune Business that the Arawak Port Development Company (APD) should have shown more understanding when it came to imposing storage fees on vehicles sitting on its dock for five days or more given the known problems in adjusting to the Electronic Single Window (ESW).

He confirmed that the auto industry had encountered delays in obtaining the necessary paperwork to move imported units into, and out of, the “bonded” facility created to improve the sector’s cash flow since Customs’ online portal was implemented on October 1.

Revealing that the situation had improved “in the last couple of days”, Mr Albury praised Customs for “going beyond the call of duty” in working with the auto industry to resolve the problems once alerted to them.

Describing it as “a learning curve for all parties”, the BMDA chief explained that the delays related to the far more detailed information on incoming vehicle shipments that is now required to “populate” Customs’ Click2Clear system.

As an example, whereas “10 Hyundais” would have been a sufficient entry under the previous system, Mr Albury said a “proper description” including model type and year; colour; and vehicle identification number (VIN) is now necessary.

His Auto Mall business, and rival dealerships, have thus had to return “bills of lading” to their vehicle suppliers for this data to be entered so that imports can be cleared much more rapidly once the shipping manifest is presented to Bahamas Customs.

“That’s been the big issue; being able to meet delivery to customers in a timely manner,” Mr Albury told Tribune Business. “That was addressed this week with some special consideration being given until we resolve all the matters.

“I think it’s more of a learning curve for all the stakeholders, not just Customs but the brokers and consumers as well. That’s what it boils down to. Customs has been very open to listening to us and realising the issues that are there.

“It does get frustrating, especially at this time of year. My personal experience is that once things were highlighted Customs went beyond the call of duty to help us run our business in a smooth manner.... The comptroller acted promptly and was prepared to accommodate the swift execution of documents to allow movement off the dock. That was resolved.”

The delays in processing paperwork have kept auto dealers’ vehicle imports on APD’s dock beyond the five-day period allowed before the port operator starts levying storage fees.

This has also impeded the industry’s efforts to move inventory into, and out of, so-called “bonded” status, which defers the payment of VAT and Excise Tax until a particular vehicle is sold to improve dealership cash flows.

As a result, the sector and its consumers have incurred increased costs and delays. “I think there should have been consideration by the Arawak Port to allow a longer period for goods sitting on the dock, so they did not have to incur storage charges out there,” Mr Albury argued.

“The system requires, from my understanding, that when the goods come in a proper description is put in. Not 10 Hyundai vehicles, but 10 Hyundai Tucson 2020 units, with the VIN and colour there. What was happening, particularly with the delays, is the shipping agents were having to come back to us to populate the data on the Customs site.

“I think it’s been the lack of information going into the system to populate the system, and taking the goods back out....... When the system came in, the first shipment on our side went reasonably smoothly but it did then start to back up and documents were not being processed in a timely manner.”

The BMDA chief argued that there should have been “better communication” between Customs, shipping agents, brokers and the private sector when Click2Clear was first introduced over what information was required to ensure “manifests go in smoothly and vehicles come out smoothly”.

“It’s had an impact out there,” he added. “For example, to get the current data in the system for vehicles in the pipeline, I had to send back to my suppliers the bill of lading to be amended to put the proper data in, so that when the manifest is presented to Customs it is correct.

“The old saying: Garbage in, garbage out’ is true. If you get the correct data in, once it gets presented there will be a smoother flow of information for the timely removal of vehicles. I’ve seen some improvement in the last couple of days. The communications have got better I think all the stakeholders have come together, and there’s probably a bit more training to be done on the system.

““To say I’m 100 percent pleased, no, but I’ve seen improvement and a willingness by the Customs Department to accommodate the auto merchants, so they understand where we’re coming from and we’re understanding the issues they are having. It’s not like they’re giving you a real hard time,” Mr Albury continued.

“They’re trying to reach out to you once they know what is giving you challenges, which is getting the goods released to deliver to customers. They’ve made some specific provisions for that. They have some challenges in the background, which I understand may be IT-related, and brokers may not be up to scratch in how to do things.

“We just have to work with them and, at the end of the day, it will be a better system for all concerned out there - all government departments and the private sector. If we can’t deliver our goods, we can’t get VAT to pay to the Government. It’s a chain reaction.”