Haiti Customs Support Project Annual Report – Year Three

The project is working to streamline processes for clearing exported and imported goods by providing technical assistance to the Administration Générale des Douanes (AGD), which is implementing the project's proposed reforms in several areas, including organizational structure, human resources, capacity building and training, technology and infrastructure, operational procedures, and cooperation and communication. Component III, ICT Procurement, Installation, was a key focus area for the project in Year 3. The project team assessed ICT requirements to modernize the operating systems for the AGD Customs office on the Cap-Haïtien port. However, due to delays and discussions about the location for the new Customs Port of Entry (POE) in Cap-Haïtien, the project took an alternative approach to provide ICT infrastructure to support the entire AGD system and connectivity with a reliable power source. In September 2017, the project spearheaded the creation of an ICT steering committee, composed of AGD IT Directors, HLS-I1 project experts, and the CSP team, aimed at facilitating communication and expediting decision-making amongst committee members. The committee accomplished several steps, including confirmation of the primary site location for the installation of the proposed ICT procurement, defined and documented AGD IT requirements and specifications, and produced and submitted to USAID an Assessment Report on AGD Technology and Infrastructure. The assessment report highlighted the severely outdated technologies used by the AGD and the negative impacts of continuing operations with such obsolete systems. The report included details on the requirements and estimated costs of the proposed ICT solutions that would help ensure improved functionality of ASYCUDA, which plays a critical role in automating AGD's accounting system, tracking customs revenue, and producing reliable customs statistics and information management. The project team proposed procurement activities that would improve revenue collection, governance, and reduce corruption. The proposed ICT procurements aim to enhance and optimize the functionality of the current AGD ICT system, providing access to real-time, accurate data collected and communicated from remote ports of entry to the main customs database system. On March 12, 2018, the project published a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the procurement and installation of information and communication technologies (cabling, satellite, and licensing) for the AGD. The RFP was created after project staff had made trips to the AGD's main office in Port-au-Prince, from which they created a proposal that addressed the organization's technological concerns, allowing it to centralize information and improve processes for revenue-collection, bolster the AGD's ASYCUDA system across Haiti, and provide the organization with a complete, transparent, and instantaneous picture of its cumulative revenue-collection. After the RFP's publication, interested bidders were given the opportunity to make site visits to the AGD's head office in Port-au-Prince and submit further technical questions to the CSP team. The project's efforts to modernize customs procedures and clearances are critical to the Government of Haiti's revenue generation, trade facilitation, and enforcement. The proposed ICT procurements aim to enhance and optimize the functionality of the current AGD ICT system, providing access to real-time, accurate data collected and communicated from remote ports of entry to the main customs database system. The project's progress in Year 3 demonstrates its commitment to improving customs procedures and clearances in Haiti. The project's work in Year 3 focused on several key areas, including the assessment of ICT requirements, the creation of an ICT steering committee, and the publication of a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the procurement and installation of information and communication technologies (cabling, satellite, and licensing) for the AGD. The project's efforts to modernize customs procedures and clearances are critical to the Government of Haiti's revenue generation, trade facilitation, and enforcement.