CUSTOMS DEPARTMENT ACQUIRES NEW 'ELECTRONIC EYE'

THE DEPARTMENT of Customs and Excise will be cracking down on the illegal
smuggling of drugs, cigarettes, alcohol and other products into the country
with a new 'electronic eye' system.

The integrated customs information system, codenamed 'THESEAS', will
inspect all the containers and merchandise that arrive in Cyprus as well as
goods being transported across the island.

Panos Hartsiodes from the Department of Customs and Excise told the Cyprus
Mail yesterday the department had an important role to play in the process
of accession the EU. " The system is intended as a tool which will be used
in restructuring and modernising the Department of Customs and Excise as
well as in providing the required support to achieve the required
harmonisation of the legislation and procedures," Hartsiodes said. "It will
be the first complete web enabled system in Europe."

The electronic 'eye' will be looking closely at freight coming from
countries with high rates of smuggling, suspect forwarding agents, ships
with suspicious pasts, customs clearing agents and all those who have ever
been linked to or are suspected of smuggling. The customs house believes
this is an effective way to control the smuggling of cigarettes, alcohol,
drugs and all other illegal trade.

The system will be enforced with the provisioning elements transmitted by
OLAF (The European Anti Fraud Office), World Customs Organisation and the
general customs authorities of other countries, in co-operation with
Cyprus. The computer system will be able to tell customs' officials which
loads or containers need to be checked.

The program was bought from Denmark, but has been readjusted to coincide
with Cyprus' laws. One part of the program has reportedly already been sold
by the department to another country.

All known and suspected smugglers' names will be entered in transactions
onto the computer to avoid the procedure of written statements and work
that is carried out for the clearance of goods through customs. This way
all the necessary documents will be passed through the computer, the taxes
will automatically be paid and it will not be essential for all goods to
pass through the customs house offices.

The electronic eye will reduce compliance costs and improve turnaround
times for clearance through the Computerised Risk Analysis module.

Through this system, the burden of current labour-intensive work will be
shifted to automated systems, allowing staff to focus on the key business
areas of intelligence, control, facilitation and enforcement.

However, the implementation of the system will not rule out on the spot
checks. According to customs officials, in an effort to enforce strict
regulations, checks will be made on the transportation of merchandise by
vehicles on the roads.

The computerisation of Customs operations is crucial in support of the
Community Customs Code.