CUSTOMS COLLECTION: THREE-FOLD INCREASE NEAR

UNCLAS PORT AU PRINCE 003068 SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/CAR DRL S/CRS SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR INR/IAA (BEN-YEHUDA) TREASURY FOR MAUREEN WAFER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM HA PKAO SUBJECT: CUSTOMS COLLECTION: THREE-FOLD INCREASE NEAR CAPITAL HARD WON ¶1. Summary: Econoff met December 8 with new director of the Haiti-Dominican Republic border crossing at Malpasse, Jeantal Clairvil, who has increased customs revenue from USD 375,000 to USD 1.3 million in the three months since his appointment. In the past shippers have avoided taxes by under-invoicing their trucks and using local residents to ferry high-value goods across the border. Clairvil said he had cracked down on both smuggling methods. Irrespective of his success, Clairvil said that the USD 1.3 million did not even approach what should have been collected because many of his agents remain corrupt despite his best efforts. End Summary. ¶2. Econoff met December 8 with the newly installed Haitian director of customs Jeantal Clairvil at the Malpasse crossing between Haiti and the Dominican Republic just east of Port-au-Prince. Since his installation, Clairvil said he has tried hard to crack down on smuggling. As a result of his efforts, customs revenue at the post has increased from USD 375,000 in September to USD 1.3 million (both figures converted from Haitian gourdes - USD 1 equals gourdes 40). He said he was not aware of contraband passing through his border post; drug and gun smugglers simply go around the post in the surrounding hills to avoid the possibility of discovery. ¶3. According to Clairvil between 30 and 60 trucks cross the border per day delivering basic supplies, primary materials for Haitian assemblers and food staples for the Haitian market. In order to avoid taxes, shippers attempt to hide the value of their cargoes by presenting false documentation. In addition, shippers use local residents to hand-carry high-value items across the border and so avoid tariffs. Clairvil said he has worked on both problems to the chagrin of locals and shippers alike by arranging through Dominican authorities for certified inventories to accompany trucks and by stopping locals from walking freely back and forth across the border. ¶4. Despite his success, Clairvil said he does not believe he has even approached taxing the real value of the goods that come across the busy border and he is concerned for his safely. Of his 30 agents, Clairvil said he only trusts four or five. He lamented that corrupt customs officers continued to aide smugglers even after his arrival. Further, he felt his success made him a target. The second day after he arrived, an angry crowd smashed the windows of his car protesting the new enforcement of the laws. Now, he makes the hour drive to and from the customs office each day with an armed escort of four police officers. ¶5. Comment: Progress at the Malpasse post is heartening. However, resentment from poor locals is indicative of the wider corruption problem that plagues Haiti. Locals benefited from lax law enforcement for years and see smuggling as a means of livelihood, not as a bad practice that hurts government revenue and stifles development. Poor and rich have used corruption to line their pockets and anti-corruption efforts in Haiti will likely continue to meet stiff resistance from both groups. CARNEY