Haiti - Education : Training of 60 customs officers
Professional trainers from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) spent two weeks in the Port-au-Prince area training over 60 Haitian customs and tax agents in international border interdiction techniques. Instruction focused on cargo and passenger inspection, document verification, immigration admissibility, targeting, and behavioral observation.
The program responds to a request by Haiti’s national customs agency (AGD), tax authority (DGI) and anti-corruption unit (ULCC) to build capacity in support of government efforts to increase state revenues. Customs receipts are an important source of revenue for the Haitian government, which is striving to decrease dependency on foreign assistance. Trainees underwent classroom instruction and were able to put their skills to use in hands-on exercises at the Port-au-Prince port and Ganthier customs control post.
According to Antoine Atouriste, Director of the Unit for Combating Corruption (ULCC) "A more advanced training will be offered to some of the customs officers and tax specialists capable of transmitting their knowledge to recruits [...] This will allow us to have agents as experienced as those of the United States [...]" noting that the assistance of the U.S. State Department, in the struggle anti-smuggling, is not limited solely to training sessions, security equipment will soon be distributed to the customs officers, who are faced in border areas, to smugglers often armed.
