As government prepares laws to tighten gold smuggling, it has assured inbound and outbound travellers that they can wear their personal jewellery hassle free.
“Personal jewellery and personal effects that is worn on the person has always been exempt historically, under the traditional customs law of the country. This position has not changed, so persons who have their ordinary jewellery they wear when they travel or in the conduct of their every day lives, should not be affected, because clearly they are not part of the target or the mischief of the legislative provisions,” Attorney General Anil Nandlall told the Stabroek News on Friday.
“Many of your readers who travel regularly to US, Canada, Europe… would do so with their usual personal effects and jewellery, without being shouldered with the burden at the airports in these countries, to declare these items. The same position obtains in Guyana…,” he added.
The Attorney General said that for personal effects and jewellery, “Once you declare, you pass. If you don’t and it is determined to be a declared item, then you can be charged and the item forfeited.”
Nandlall promised to discuss in detail more of what will obtain from the legislative perspective, but said that government wanted to swiftly “allay the fears of the ordinary traveller.”
Recently, three individuals, who had disguised 240 ounces of gold valued US$5660,000 as silver jewellery and attempted to leave through the Cheddi Jagan International Airport for the United States were arrested and charged. In addition, Washington sanctioned gold dealers Nazar Mohamed, and his son Azruddin Mohamed, for allegedly smuggling 10,000 kilogrammes of gold over a four-year period. Then another passenger was held for not declaring 23 ounces of gold that made up a number of pieces of jewellery, which he and many persons close to him have said he has had for years and included pieces he bought in the United States. The government had therefore signalled that it would be looking at harsher penalties for gold smuggling.
The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) meanwhile has stated that it continued to note an alarming upward trend in the efforts to smuggle items including gold, monetary instruments, arms, and narcotics through ports in Guyana. It urged any person dealing in or contemplating engaging in such illegal activities to cease and desist therefrom, or face the consequences for their actions.
Questions have been asked by observers, many of them in the diaspora, if the impending laws will also see persons who own and wear jewellery costing more than US$10,000 having to declare those when they travel through this country. “I have a bracelet that wasn’t even bought in Guyana but costs over US$10,000. Does that mean I have to declare it when I come to and is leaving GT? What happens when I declare? Doesn’t that also open me to security risks when I declare there?” a New York City resident questioned.
On social media platforms, others also expressed concern. “Small man in for trouble, now that the big boys get skin up…” one of the bloggers on this newspaper’s interactive platform posited.
“What is the legal weight of gold allowed out of the country without declaration?” another questioned.
Commissioner General of the GRA, Godfrey Statia, told the Stabroek News that “the problem is not the amount but the declaration, whereby it must be declared if it exceeds the value of US$10,000.” He said guidelines can be found at the the back of any customs and immigration form.
This country’s Attorney General clarified that once the jewellery forms part of your personal effects and you are wearing it, you would not have to declare or go through the customs hassles. “Guyana has implemented the relevant global standard set by the financial action task-force in its recommendation in relation to the importation exportation and cross border transfer of monies and precious metals,” he said.
“In this regard, Guyana’s legislation was recently thoroughly examined in the just-concluded mutual evaluation assessment by the CFATF [Caribbean Financial Action Task Force] and deemed to be in full compliance with the global standards. However, the relevant law enforcement agencies are obliged to enforce these statutory provisions in accordance with their letter and spirit , bearing in mind, what their objectives are. Those objectives are to combat and curb financial crimes, organised crimes, money laundering, smuggling, and other cross-border type of offences.”
He was quick to note that “clearly, persons who have monies on their person that is above the statutory limit would be required to declare those monies. Persons who are transporting gold and precious metals whose values are above the statutory limit would be required to make the necessary declarations.” However, the same global standard applies, “when the question arises if persons are wearing personal jewellery the laws should be construed exempting personal jewellery”, as he reasoned that personal jewellery, such as wedding bands and engagement rings, for which many today pay over US$10,000 for, are worn.
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has said that investigators have told him that some of the jewellers here would melt the gold into items such as biscuit cans and those are sprayed with paint and then crackers are placed in them. He said he was made to understand that over the years, persons have come up with many ingenious ways to smuggle the yellow metal out of this country.
He had said too that the laws are geared to target large-scale smugglers and not “the ordinary person with a band,” or personal pieces leaving the country.
“So we may want to take what we do at Customs now and introduce it here for the evasion of gold, not just pay the forgone [earnings] but you also have to pay a huge penalty which is in multiples of the evading taxes. So, if you get caught, there is a big risk, first of all you get charged under an Act that has severe penalties…” Jagdeo warned at a press conference held on June 14 at the Office of the President. “Secondly, there is a big financial risk because you’ll have massive fines. And thirdly, we may have to start exploring what we did under the laws dealing with money laundering or drug trafficking – forfeiture of assets,” he added.
President Irfaan Ali also spoke of government looking at tightening oversight here to bring “greater rigidity.” And while he did not go into the details of what this would be for ordinary travellers, the measures seemed geared at large-scale gold dealers.
Announcing that government has since suspended all business ties with the Mohameds, he said that the information from the US will help to assist and guide the local probe.
“Minister of Finance, the head of the GRA, its Commissioner General, head of the FIU [Financial Intelligence Unit], the Governor of the Central Bank, and the Guyana Gold Board, are looking at the existing system and… at areas that they can further work on strengthening,” Ali told a press conference at State House on Friday.
Speaking to the press publicly for the first time since the Mohameds and Permanent Secretary Mae Thomas’ sanctions, he informed that the preliminary feedback from local authorities has highlighted the need for more collaborative work with other countries, particularly those that gold from this country is exported to.
“What we have found is that many of these areas will require collaboration with our bilateral partners. So the areas that we will focus on are the strengthening of the current regulation framework; looking at export regulation, harmonization of tax policies, and anti-money laundering measures,” the President said.
“…We look at this enhancing enforcement mechanism; increased surveillance, the development of a specialised task force to have greater inter-agency fluidity on information. International cooperation; definitely we will now have to work on. When we checked with the authorities, there are some weaknesses that are identified that require not only Guyana’s intervention, but intervention with all our partners. For example, the matching of declarations here and declarations in another jurisdiction. Of course, when a declaration is made in Guyana, that declaration accompanies the exporter who is exporting the gold, but you do not receive back a declaration that is made in that country upon entering in that border,” he added.
