– Auditor General’s ReportA trend of a disparity involving several million dollars as it relates to the revenue handed over to the Ministry of Finance by the Customs and Trade Administration has been pointed out in the 2007 Auditor General’s Report.Auditor General (ag) Deodat SharmaAccording to the Auditor General (ag) Deodat Sharma, he had highlighted in his 2006 Report that total payments into the Consolidated Fund amounted to $28.083 billion, while the Statement of Receipts and Disbursements prepared by the Ministry of Finance reflected an amount $28.184 billion, a difference of $101M.A similar observation was made with respect to 2005; where the statement prepared by the Ministry of Finance showed total payments into the Fund as $25.827 billion, whilst the records of Customs and Trade Administration showed $25.830 billion.Included in the figure of $25.830 billion shown as paid over to the Fund for 2005 was an amount of $10.318M, which was reported stolen from the Administration on 27 May 2005. This amount was not adjusted on the revenue statement to show the actual payment into the Consolidated Fund as $25.820 billion,Jerseys NFL Wholesale, resulting in an overstatement of $7.113M. At the time of reporting, the Administration and the Ministry of Finance had still not reconciled their records and made the necessary adjustments.According to the report, the situation continued in 2007 where according to the records of the Customs & Trade Administration, total payments into the Consolidated Fund for 2007 were $8.150 billion while the Statement of Receipts and Disbursements prepared by the Ministry of Finance showed that total payments into the Fund were $8.159 billion, resulting in a difference of $9M.The Commissioner General Khurshid Sattaur indicated that the matter is being addressed currently, and Sharma recommended that the Customs and Trade Administration and the Ministry of Finance renew their efforts to reconcile their records and make the necessary adjustments.In relation to import duties, some transactions were facilitated through the Permit forImmediate Delivery (PID) System.The system according to Sharma provides for PIDs to be perfected within 10 working days from the date of their issue and in addition, the use of the PID facility is valid for one calendar year after which importers are required to reapply to the Commissioner General for further use of the facility.However, according to Sharma of the 1,032 PIDs that were issued for 2006, seventeen PIDs with a CIF value of $2.832 billion remained outstanding at the time of reporting and in addition,Wholesale Jerseys Supply, two PIDs with a CIF value of $13.870M, 50 valued at $154.990M and three valued at $307,224 for the years 2005,Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping, 2004 and 2003 respectively, also remained outstanding.He noted that a similar situation existed in 2007 where of the 940 PIDs that were issued during the period under review, three PIDs with a total CIF value of $4.691M remained outstanding at the time of audit in March 2009.Sharma pointed out also that applications by importers were not presented for audit scrutiny.Sattaur explained that the PIDs are currently being reviewed with a view to demanding outstanding amounts from importers.One of PIDs valued at $5.912M was perfected after the conclusion of the audit. Discussions are on going with the Commissioner General with a view to issuing letters to one importer to recoup outstanding amounts owed to Guyana Revenue Authority.Sharma in his recommendation told the Commissioner General that mechanisms must be put in place to expedite the processing of PIDs so that they can be perfected within the prescribe time-frame.Meanwhile Sharma noted that an examination of the Seizures Register revealed that there were 107 seizures during 2006, however, 22 files were still not presented for audit examination while in 2005 and 2004, seven and 10 files respectively were still not presented for audit examination.This situation, he noted, continued in 2007, where amounts totalling $20.684M were collected as additional duties on items seized,Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping, while $37.277M was collected as compensation and fines.An examination of the Seizures Register revealed that there were 99 seizures during the period under review. However, at the time of audit in March 2009, only 56 files were presented for audit examination.The Commissioner General indicated to Sharma that efforts are being made to locate the outstanding files and present them for audit examination.Sharma recommended that the Customs and Trade Administration take steps to expedite the processing of seizures since the delay to do so can result in the deterioration of the related goods and subsequent loss in revenue; and locate