The Director General of the Ecuadorian Customs Service (SENAE), Carola Ríos Michaud, stated: “In our country we are committed to the fight against smuggling” and for that reason she pointed out: “We are strengthening ties of joint work, seeking mechanisms and policies that transcend borders.”
Ríos Michaud participated in this way in the VI Meeting of the Latin American Anti-Smuggling Alliance (ALAC), which began today, September 29, in Quito and ends tomorrow, under the slogan of strengthening legality and highlighting the importance of economic and social development in Latin American countries.
At the forum, the new head of Ecuadorian Customs pointed out that in her country a “technical committee has been established in conjunction with 16 regulatory entities, to safeguard the security of trade in matters of drug trafficking and smuggling (…) and for that reason, a roadmap has been planned around the work that will be carried out.”
The Ecuadorian official shared the Panel “Challenges for customs control during the COVID-19 pandemic” with Gerardo Bolaños, General Director of Customs of Costa Rica; Juan Ordóñez, Superintendent of Customs Control of SUNAT Peru; Alfonso Vega, from Customs of Chile and Ingrid Díaz, Director of Taxes and National Customs of Colombia. There, the customs authorities presented the lessons that the Covid-19 pandemic has left in the implementation of technologies and new processes in customs, border and health control.
Among the conclusions, the panelists raised the simplicidad and efficiency, through the Digitization and elimination of paperwork, better controls and prioritization of medical supplies for ourselves thanks to the connection between institutions.
The meeting, which brings together 15 countries in the region, is organized by the National Association of Entrepreneurs of Colombia (ANDI) as Technical Secretariat of ALAC, the Chamber of Industries and Production of Ecuador (CIP) and the Association of Textile Industrialists of Ecuador (AITE).
On the second day of the forum, other debates will continue, including: “Regulatory tools for effective mitigation of illicit trade”, “Global efforts to mitigate the economic and social damage of illicit trade”, “Globalization of trade flows and tariff policy: effects on the business sector and society due to illicit trade”. As is well known, all the reflections are focused on combating illicit trade, during the current context of economic recovery.
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