GOVERNMENT has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to participate in the International Container Control Programme.

The agreement, which makes Jamaica the first country in the English-speaking Caribbean to benefit from the programme, was signed yesterday at the offices of the Ministry of Finance in Kingston.

Minister of Finance Peter Phillips said the programme, funded by the Canadian and United States governments, will see Jamaica partnering with the UNODC and the World Customs Organisation (WCO) to strengthen the country’s ability to process containers that pass through the nation’s ports. He said the partnership will also help to minimise illegal activities at the ports.

“Some 90 per cent of international trade is represented by container flows, and less than two per cent of these flows are inspected. This leaves significant room for the corruption of the cargo and it allows for organised criminal activities to thrive,” Phillips said

The minister said there was also a revenue enhancement component to the programme.

“Given our current fiscal situation, we need all the revenues we can get to execute vital programmes, and therefore we are concerned that there ought not to be illicit flows, or other flows across our borders through our ports, which are undertaken to evade taxation,” he added. The programme will be implemented at the Kingston and Montego Bay ports.

United States Ambassador Pamella Bridgewater and National Security Minister Peter Bunting also welcomed the move.

“This initiative is very much welcomed and we look forward to this particular increasing [of] our success in combating narcotics trafficking and other illegal activities,” Bunting said.

Canada’s High Commissioner to Jamaica Robert Ready said “the programme will replace a more random approach with rigorous risk assessment to identify and target suspicious containers”.

“It will also establish a joint port control unit and integrate several branches of law enforcement,” he explained.

Meanwhile, UNODC Programme Manager Troels Vester said that as part of the initiative, a dedicated inter-agency container-profiling unit will be set up. The team will comprise personnel from the Customs Department, Port Authority of Jamaica and members of the security forces and will have a mandate to prevent cargo containers from being used for unlawful activities such as drug trafficking, smuggling of goods, tax evasion, intellectual property-related and possible terrorist activities.