To reinforce merchandise controls, the National Customs Directorate of Paraguay plans to double the number of scanners at ports and implement a plan so that private port companies have their own scanners, said the director of Customs, Julio Fernández, on the program El Ciudadano, on Paraguay TV, according to the IP Agency.
"We have made calculations with the private sector for this and they can quickly recover this investment, in addition to providing security, facilitating trade and speeding up procedures, they can recover costs. We as Customs will continue investing and installing in national ports," he said.
Although there are limitations for the customs institution since each required scanner costs about four million dollars and is required for 30 to 35 ports, Investment in technology will be the bet to continue positioning Paraguay as a country that fights illegality.
Fernandez stressed that The record seizure of cocaine positions Paraguay as a country that is truly fighting and determined to eradicate drug trafficking and that in this context the objective is to double the operational capacity of the scanners by the end of this Government.
According to Fernandez, Customs currently has three scanners dating back to 2008 and located in Villeta, which require an investment of one million dollars in maintenance.
"We believe that this is extremely high and that is why we are considering the possibility that for that million dollars we could well see the service of a company that would rent or provide us with the service with three or four 2020 model scanners," he said.
As he indicated, At least 20 scanners are required to cover the ports which divert merchandise to other ports and what is most affected at this time is the lack of continuous investments that were not made by previous directorates.
"Unfortunately, no prior investments were made and making a large investment at a complex time like the one we are experiencing when resources are scarce is going to cost more," he said in the television interview.
For this Customs has held talks with private ports and has submitted a plan to the Executive Branch to ensure that private port companies have their own scanners.
Finally, he said that the investments that Customs makes to improve river and air customs control must also be accompanied by the efforts of other State institutions, such as investments in the acquisition of new radars.
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