NAME OF FEATURE | THE GLEANER | SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2026 66 ANOTHER ENGAGEMENT, targeted at commercial and industrial customers is the Customs Business Interaction (CBI). Led by the Office of the CEO and Commissioner of Customs, Dr. Velma Ricketts Walker, the CBI enables a more personal interaction between executive members of both the JCA and its commercial and industrial stakeholders to further enhance the facilitation of trade, one of the agency’s mandates. The face-to-face meetings also help to boost the relationship between the agency and its customers. Omar Azan, Chairman and CEO of Boss Furniture, having benefitted from the CBI, indicated that engagements such as this has allowed a direct avenue to address Customs concerns companies are having and receive faster resolutions to same, whether it has to do with the systems or internal documentation and the turnaround for it. This, he said, allows for better and freer flow of cargo which has had a positive impact on business. He used the opportunity to show gratitude to the Jamaica Customs Agency for its “vast and great improvements in the way Customs operates…a lot more collaborative, and working along with its clients. The communication lines are a lot more open, led by CEO, Mrs. Ricketts Walker and the entire team, where we feel comfortable enough to call and discuss anything, whether it is something we see, hear, or know of or if we have our own issues to manage. As business people in Jamaica, we are very thankful.” While Jamaica Customs will continue to utilise traditional media, and Social Media to keep customers informed, the entity is aware that these channels may not reach all our valued stakeholders and with this in mind, will continue to advance its stakeholder engagement capabilities to ensure customers are more aware, informed and educated, thus encouraging greater compliance, thereby fulfilling its mandates of trade facilitation, border protection and revenue collection on behalf of the Government of Jamaica. TO ENSURE stakeholders and customers across all spectrums of the society, are familiar with the processes and operations of the Jamaica Customs Agency (JCA), in recent years, the Customs team has been employing more face-to-face interactive engagements for its stakeholders. One such engagement is the “Customs Meets the Community” Parish Engagement, aimed at further enhancing the agency’s presence within parishes and communities. This stakeholder engagement which started in April 2017 saw employees within various branches of the agency travelling to various parishes across Jamaica, and making presentations to members of the public. It allowed for their questions and concerns to be addressed, and importantly, the agency was able to garner feedback, which remains a key element of all its engagements. Team Customs painted the streets of Manchester in royal blue and yellow on Friday, March 28, 2025, as they overtook the cool parish ensuring citizens were educated and treated to loads of entertainment and giveaways. In between “the showers of blessing,” members of the Jamaica Customs Agency came out in full force to ensure the towns of Christiana and Mandeville were saturated with information on incentives available to farmers and other sectors; the new Customs Mobile App, JaCustoms Connect; Contactless Clearance; JSWIFT; and other initiatives within the agency, leaving the people of Manchester better educated and more informed. In March 2024, following the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency revamped this stakeholder engagement to a “Town and Community Tour Edition” which allows employees to take to the streets within towns and communities, in keeping with our tagline ‘reaching our customers where they are.’ During that year, the entity toured major towns in the parishes of Trelawny, Kingston and St. Andrew. INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMS DAY/CUSTOMS WEEK FEATURE | THE SUNDAY GLEANER | FEBRUARY 1, 2026 Customs representatives engage in a round-table discussion with executives from Boss Furniture. JAMAICA CUSTOMS BRINGS SUNSHINE TO RAINY MANCHESTER JAMAICA CUSTOMS – THROUGH ITS CUSTOMS BUSINESS INTERACTION INITIATIVE – ENGAGES WITH THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY
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