ENewsletter May 2011
In this Issue
- WCO ESA Governing Council Meeting
- E Filing Draw 2011
- Courtesy Call from the French Ambassador
- Corporate Social Responsibility - Food Serving
- Management and Entrepreneurship Development Programme for Women Entrepreneurs
- National Best Secretary Award 2011
- WCO ESA Governing Council Meeting
The Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) had hosted the 16th WCO ESA Governing Council meeting held on 19th & 20th May at Le Meridien Hotel, Pointes-aux-Piments. The WCO ESA Governing Council is comprised of the Heads of Customs administrations of the 22 countries in the East and Southern Africa, one among the six WCO Regions. Each region is represented at the WCO Council by a Vice-Chairperson who is also a defacto member of the Policy Commission, a key organ of the WCO. This Governing Council meeting was preceded by the 14th WCOESA Regional Steering Group (RSG) meeting held back-to-back on 16-18 May 2011 which involved the participation of senior Customs officials from each member states. Mr C.Betchoo and Mr S.S.Purmah Section Head and Technical Officer from the Trade Facilitation & Customs Cooperation (TFCC) also represented MRA-Customs.
The WCO, an independent intergovernmental body whose ongoing mission is to modernize and enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of Customs administrations, represents the interests of 177 Customs administrations spread across all the continents that collectively process approximately 98% of world trade. The WCO is governed by a Council which comprises of the Chairperson and the 6 Regional Vice-Chairpersons.
Mr Kunio Mikuriya, Secretary General of the WCO had attended the meeting at the invitation of the Vice Chair for the WCO East and Southern Africa (ESA) region, Commissioner Richard Kamajugo of Uganda Customs. The other participants were as follows: heads of Customs administrations from ESA region, heads of the WCO ESA Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB), Regional Intelligence Liaison Office (RILO), Regional Training Centres (RTCs) and representatives from other regional organizations namely, African Union, COMESA and SADC as well as University of Canberra also participated in the meeting.
Honourable Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Chief Guest at the opening ceremony, had in his speech emphasized on the commitment of the Government of Mauritius to the regional integration agenda. He also underlined that given the key role of Customs administrations in enabling governments to pursue their economic agenda through revenue collection (MRA-Customs collects around 36% of total revenue) and protection and security of society, all member countries in the region should continue to collaborate with each other with a view to ensuring professionalism and more efficiency in Customs. He reiterated Government’s full support of the ongoing Customs Reforms and Modernization Programme at MRA aimed at creating an environment conducive to facilitating trade and attracting investment. In their welcoming speech, both Messrs S.Lal, Director General and S. Mendes, Director Customs emphasized on MRA’s eagerness to promote professionalism by providing good working conditions for its staff, evidenced by the opening of the Custom House in February this year, and also its keenness to use technology, including the WCO nCEN pilot project and simplifying procedures while enhancing MRA’s control capabilities.
During the course of the deliberations, the Heads of Customs reviewed the previous decisions and their outcomes on various Customs related issues and adopted the Strategic Regional Action Plan for ESA 2011-2013 which includes ambitious capacity building (CB) activities with an emphasis on developing a regional pool of experts. It is gratifying to note that three Section Heads from MRA-Customs, namely, V. Ramburun, L. Babajee and R. G. Ramnarain, have been qualified as WCO Accredited expert in Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC), technical training expert in WTO/GATT Valuation and Customs Modernization Advisor respectively. This action plan focuses on key areas such as harmonization of legislation, policies and procedures of Customs administrations, human resources management in Customs, Customs to Business partnerships, protection of economy and society, and coordinated border management initiatives.
Go Top - E Filing Draw 2011
The MRA lottery draw for the e-Filing season 2011 was held on 23rd May 2011 at the Customer Service Centre of the MRA Headquarters in the presence of members of the Gambling Regulatory Authority .The Honourable Tassarajen Pillay Chedumbrum, Minister of Information, Communication and Technology was the chief guest for this event and the draw of the first three prizes was effected by him in the presence of the Chairperson, MRA, Mr Vasdev Hassamal, the Director General, MRA, Mr Sudhamo Lal, and Mr Dan Faugoo, Executive Director of the National Computer Board(NCB).
Go Top - Courtesy Call from the French Ambassador
His Excellency, Mr. Jean Francois Dobelle, Ambassador of France paid a courtesy visit to the Director General of the MRA on Thursday 17 May 2011. He was accompanied by his attaché Mr. Jean Blateff.The Director General of the MRA welcomed the two high officials of the French Embassy in the presence of the compliance directors and two other directors namely Dr Seth, Director Research, Planning and Policy Department and Mr. T Moorghen, Acting Director taxpayer Education and Communication Department. Mr. Mario Hannelas, Director of Medium and Small Taxpayer Department made a short presentation on the MRA, its organizational structure with a brief analysis of the achievements of MRA since its inception from 2006. His Excellency and his attaché also visited the Customer Service Centre at Ehram Court, Port Louis
Go Top - Corporate Social Responsibility - Food Serving
On Sunday 29 May 2011, the staff of the MRA Customs Department offered a lunch to the residents of the Gandhi Vreedh Ashram situated at Petit Raffray. This Home caters for approximately a hundred residents of different communities and mostly elderly males and a twenty females also.This noble initiative was taken by fellow Officers who had previously organised the annual puja at the Mariamen kovil ,Albion Dock Port Louis ,October last contributed generously to the success of this event. That day started by the recitation of devotional songs. The ceremony was presided by Mr S. Lal, Director General of the MRA accompanied by Mr V. Ramburun, Ag. Director Customs and the MRA staff. Food and gifts were offered to residents of the home. This gesture shows the commitment of MRA towards community work.
Go Top - Management and Entrepreneurship Development Programme for Women Entrepreneurs
The MRA conducted two seminars to some thirty woman entrepreneurs who participated in a Management and Entrepreneurship Development Programme organized by the Mauritius Employers Federation (MEF) at the seat of the MEF Management School in Ebene. The two sessions were respectively held on Tuesday 24 and Wednesday 25 May 2011. Mr J. Kelly, Team Leader and Mr H. Sungkur, Technical Officer, both from the Medium and Small Taxpayer Department dispensed the sessions. The theme of discussion was the tax obligations for SMEs and self-employed persons. A third session is scheduled for Thursday 02 June 2011.
Go Top - National Best Secretary Award 2011
MRA staff, especially those of the Fiscal Investigations department are very proud of the outstanding performance of Sharmila Mohun who won the prestigious "National Secretary of the Year 2011" award. The competition for the best secretary was jointly organized by the Professional Secretaries Association and Newskills Ltd. Sharmila Mohun, secretary at the Fiscal Investigations department likes challenges and applied for the competition in April 2011. There were three different stages in the competition prior to the final where the candidates were requested to submit written assignments within very short deadlines.
The competition was open to candidates working in both public and private sectors. Having successfully completed the 3 initial stages, Sharmila Mohun was given the task of preparing a presentation on "managing my manager- strategic relationship" for the final. The four best candidates had to do a PowerPoint presentation with questions coming from a panel of assessors for the final which was held on Friday 28 May 2011. Such competition adds value to the work of secretaries as the latter play an important role between Directors, staff and stakeholders. Our Congratulations to a committed and dedicated secretary who wishes to continually develop and progress in her career.
