Celebration of International Customs Day
The MFB announces a 2023 balance sheet of more than 1,400 billion CFA in liquidations and gives Customs the thumbs up
“Together, let’s unite our efforts and shape the future through sincere collaboration in the service of Senegal’s economic and social development”. It was with this strong message that the Minister of Finance and Budget, Mamadou Moustapha BA, launched the activities marking the celebration of International Customs Day 2024, the theme of which is: “For a Customs that mobilizes its historical and new partners around clear objectives”. Mamadou Moustapha BA took the opportunity to congratulate the Senegalese Customs on its results, which total 1426 billion CFA francs.
Agility, adaptability and greater vigilance
Like other member administrations of the World Customs Organization (WCO), Senegal Customs celebrated International Customs Day in Thiès on Saturday January 27. The Minister of Finance and Budget, Mamadou Moustapha BA, who chaired the event, emphasized the relevance of the theme proposed by the WCO, which he said “reminds us that in a constantly changing world, Customs must remain agile and adapt to the rapid acceleration of international movements of goods and the exponential growth of world trade”. And, in such a context, continues the Minister, “increased vigilance is required of customs services, which should under no circumstances lose sight of the simplification and facilitation expected of their partners, who have become increasingly demanding in terms of the speed and transparency of their transactions”.
Building fruitful balances with partners
Addressing partners and users, the minister invited them “to understand the regalian missions with which customs administrations are entrusted, and to support them in carrying them out, by promoting optimal mobilization of public resources, in an economic environment free of distortions that could lead to unfair competitive practices, and in compliance with the rules and safety standards governing the international supply chain”. Fortunately”, adds Mamadou Moustapha BA, “Senegalese Customs, in its avant-garde posture, has understood this,” having set up, in its organizational architecture, a Directorate dedicated to Facilitation and Partnership with Enterprise, but also collaboration mechanisms clearly defined in memoranda of understanding aimed at setting rules on the basis of which advantages are conceded to companies that have signed up to a compliance dynamic”. He cited the example of the Privileged Partners Program (PPP), which will shortly evolve into the Authorized Economic Operator Program (AEO), attesting to the government’s vision “for a modern Customs Administration, resolutely committed to a fruitful and lasting partnership, in favor of our country’s economic and social development”. This vision is “strongly inspired by that of the President of the Republic, His Excellency Macky SALL, expressed in the Plan Sénégal Émergent (PSE), which consists in making Senegal an emerging country with a society based on solidarity and the rule of law”, he concludes.
More than CFA 1,426 billion in liquidations by 2023
Efforts to modernize, adapt and cultivate a performance culture have made it possible to achieve a “highly commendable” level of revenue mobilization and anti-fraud efforts for fiscal 2023, said the Minister of Finance and Budget. Indeed, liquidated customs revenues amounted to 1426,687,663,240 CFA francs , compared with… for fiscal 2022, i.e. a positive shift of more than …As for the fight against fraud, significant seizures of drugs, medicines and various goods with a total value of 485,521,543,120 CFA francs were made in 2023. Mamadou Moustapha congratulated the Director General of Customs, Dr Mbaye NDIAYE, and his departments, both those responsible for commercial operations and those involved in surveillance of the customs territory. Referring to the collaborative bridges and partnership dynamics established by the General Directorate of Customs, the MFB recalled that “the mobilization of historical and new partners, around clear objectives, can fully contribute to the emergence of Senegal by 2035” before expressing his conviction “that the success of our nation rests on the effective collaboration between the various entities that make it up”.
Acting proactively to strengthen our security and economic position
He praised “the partnership initiatives with the Faculty of Legal and Political Sciences (FSJP) at Dakar’s Cheikh Anta DIOP University (UCAD), as well as with the UNODC, the IOM and the EU”, all of which contribute to the fight against emerging security threats. According to the Minister, this far-reaching collaboration demonstrates Customs’ ability “to anticipate changing needs and act proactively to strengthen our security and economic situation, which should be extended to all sectors of our economic, social, financial and environmental ecosystem”. Finally, Mamadou Moustapha announced the objectives assigned to Senegalese Customs, which amount to 1,700 billion CFA francs for the 2024 fiscal year.
Dr MBAYE NDIAYE, DIRECTOR GENERAL OF CUSTOMS
“Protecting the economy and public safety
At the outset, the Director General of Customs, Dr Mbaye NDAIYE welcomed the presence of the Minister of Finance and Budget, which testifies to “your availabilitý to the Customs Service, which you accompany on a daily basis in the accomplishment of its delicate missions”. Our administration, which is placed under your authoritý, “is grateful for your decisive support and, your quality supervisioń, which enable it to remain in the orbit of performance. I would therefore like to thank you, on behalf of the entire customs family, for all that you do for the radiance of our dear administration”, adds the DGD not without expressing. Please also be our interpreter to His Excellency, the President of the Republic, Macky SALL, to whom we express our gratitude, not only for the trust placed in us, but also for the substantial resources made available to the service, through his ambitious program to modernize the customs administration (PROMAD). The Director General of Customs, Dr Mbaye Ndiaye, recalled that the organization of this day stems from “the need to popularize the multifaceted contribution of the Customs Administration to economic and social development”. According to Ndiaye, International Customs Day provides an opportunity for the public, both beneficiaries and recipients of customs action, to truly grasp its meaning and purpose. “Beyond this first aspect, IAD also offers an opportunity to highlight the efforts and sacrifices made by Customs officers, men and women of value, to ensure the protection of the economy and the security of the population”, he asserted.
On the choice of Thiès
According to the Director General of Customs, all the dimensions mentioned above make this day a key event in the agenda of customs services, underlining that this year, Senegalese Customs wanted to give this event “a special cachet”, by relocating its celebration to Thiès, in order to underline the importance of this region, in the Customs Administration’s operational set-up. With this act, Dr. Ndiaye implied that they wanted to salute the remarkable performance of the Groupement Polyvalent de Recherches et de Répression de la Fraude (GPRRF), which is, he says, “an elite unit of the Customs Administration, with national competence and headquartered in this region”. That’s why, he says, “we couldn’t have chosen a better place than the rail capital to celebrate this day, whose theme this year is Partnership”.
A mutually beneficial partnership
Through this theme, he believes, the WCO is inviting customs administrations worldwide “to reflect on the mobilization of their historical and new partners, around clear objectives”. In his view, this theme can be approached from two angles: the markers of the partnership dimension of customs action; and the identification of objectives that should underpin the mobilization of our partners. On the first point, he emphasized that our Administration understood very early on the importance of partnership in implementing customs policy, the success of which requires, in Wildavsky’s words, a mix of cogitation and interaction. To this end, he explains, it has established partnership as “the pillar and bedrock of its governance, and over the years has succeeded in forging close relationships with a number of key partners”. These partners include, first and foremost, companies, i.e. the economic agents who create wealth, whom we support dynamically as part of our economic mission, through the allocation of a variety of instruments that facilitate and strengthen their competitiveness”, says Dr Mbaye Ndiaye. According to Dr. Ndiaye, in addition to companies, the Defense and Security Forces are “partners of choice in the implementation of our security missions, such as border protection and the fight against illicit trafficking”. His conviction is that the Customs Administration, because of its role as a watchdog and its advanced position at the borders, is called upon “to implement regulations drawn up by other administrations”. The second axis of our theme focuses on the objectives that must underpin the partnership if it is to be mutually beneficial.
A new vision of executive management governance focused on performance culture
In his speech, the Director General spoke of the implementation of “customs governance based on three major pillars: the enhancement of human capital, the development of innovation, and results-based management. He went on to offer his warmest congratulations to the Customs Officers, soldiers of the economy, and to encourage them to persevere in excellence and the culture of performance, while urging them to develop responsible behavior, so as to celebrate the rule of law in all its sacredness on a daily basis. “And, it is from here, and through here, that we will be able to write the history of a strong Customs, at the service of our Great Nation”, declared Dr Mbaye NDIAYE.
