On Thursday (17.08.2023/XNUMX/XNUMX), the Bank of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay (BROU) and the National Customs Directorate signed a Framework Agreement for cooperation regarding the Qualified Economic Operator Program to carry out actions in compliance with international recommendations on the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
According to a statement from the Uruguayan Customs, the agreement was signed in a ceremony attended by the President of the Republic Bank (Salvador Ferrer), the Secretary General (Roberto Borrelli) and the National Director of Customs (Jaime Borgiani).
After signing, the National Director of Customs, Jaime Borgiani, stated: "The Economic Operator program is not a Uruguayan creation, has had a development and it has been understood not only by customs but also by the different members of the foreign trade chain, including the financial sector.”
"This is intended to grant greater benefits "those operators who, before the customs administration, demonstrate that they meet certain control and security requirements, both for cargo and their operations," he explained.
Borgiani recalled that last year the Uruguayan customs signed a mutual recognition agreement with the United States customs, "with which one of the requirements is to combat money laundering. Each operator who is certified must have a security program in its money laundering operations. That is what we want to collaborate with our Banco República on and the bank will support the program by granting its benefits to clients and to those who are certified.”
In turn, the President of BROU, Salvador Ferrer, added that "the goal is to simplify the lives of our clients and everyone else. Help in everything that, when we talk about competitiveness, we are left with a few variables but in reality these are the things that help the export sector to generate efficiencies, which is what we are all looking for."
“In the banking sector, everything that has to do with money laundering is present and often generates potential inconveniences for our clients. But to do it in a thorough manner, this gives us the idea that we can work better and with institutions such as Customs and the Bank, we collaborate in taking these steps. We encourage other institutions to accompany us on this path with the National Customs Directorate in order to have a better competitiveness for the country,” he concluded.
The agreement also aims to define a framework for exchange information, experiences and strengthen the management of the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing – LAFT, by companies related to the Qualified Economic Operator Program (OEC).
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