Closing Ceremony : Training on Big data analytics for the Mauritius Customs

Honourable  Nando Bodha, Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Regional Cooperation

Mr Sudhamo Lall, Chairperson of the Mauritius Revenue Authority

Mr Vivekanand Ramburun, Director of Mauritius Customs

Custom officers and members of the Mauritian Customs

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good afternoon,

I am very pleased to be here today with you the custom officers who play a critical role in a globalised world in ensuring proper management of all exchanges and flows coming and going from Mauritius. Today we are gathered for the closing ceremony of the training on big data analysis. It is meant to make you able to perform more and better in your daily operations by using risk assessment as a factor to guide your investigations.

And I am also pleased that the government of Mauritius has asked the support of the European Union to address the challenges faced by customs officers in their daily work.

I would like to express my appreciation to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Regional Cooperation as well as the Mauritius Revenue Authority for organising this 15 days training programme

We all acknowledge the important role that customs officers play in enhancing societal protection and smooth conduct of legitimate economic activities.

I am aware about the daunting task of the Mauritius Customs which has to fulfil many responsibilities that span across trade controls and facilitation, protection and collection of government revenue, narcotics interdiction, intellectual property rights protection as well as consumer protection and probably many other technical or administrative duties…

The focus should therefore be on mastering your dual role of a regulator and a facilitator for the business environment in Mauritius. Delivering on both fronts is not without challenges and will require an innovative customs and a close partnership with counterparts in the law enforcement domain as well as with those in the business sector and the community as a whole.

We are also experiencing challenges arising from the changing global trade environment and rapid technological developments as well as sometimes with unexpected threats like today with Coronavirus. There is therefore an urgent need to adapt very fast to these developments.

Several media recently reported on cases of fraud and drug trafficking being allegedly committed by criminal networks. Syndicates are taking advantages of increased passenger and cargo flows to engage in cross-border crimes such as drug trafficking, money laundering and customs fraud.

This is why it is important that you and the Mauritius Customs give risk management a highly prominent role. And I am convinced that applications of big data will enable Mauritius Customs to adopt a proactive rather than a reactive response to supply chain risks, whilst facilitating legitimate trade.

We also need to reflect more on how the Mauritius Customs can take greater advantage of the use of data analytics as an extremely powerful tool for improving business processes at both the operational and strategic levels.

By bringing all the data together from the entire supply chain, you the customs officers can obtain accurate and holistic pictures to identify trends and - understand who does what along the chain. I am sure that with this capacity building programme, you will be able to identify trends to spot suspicious activities that can lead to detecting frauds (e.g., smuggling of goods, under-invoicing) and identifying counterfeits and other restricted or prohibited goods.. I am also convinced that the algorithms that you have acquired will hugely benefit the Customs department and the Mauritius Revenue Authority in future policy making processes.

However, I need to stress that there are multiple challenges associated with developments in data analysis such as workforce development, data management and system infrastructure. This is why the EU is committed to supporting the Mauritius Customs through capacity building to strategically develop its workforce by identifying high potential data analysts that can grow professionally inside the organization.

But at the same time, we should not underestimate the clear link between risk management and coordinated border management, in particular, to achieve better coordination between different agencies. I would encourage you to improve information sharing and pursue similar risk management approaches with other law enforcement agencies. Customs can take the lead on this to promote a whole of government risk management approach at the border.

I would like to seize this opportunity to inform you that the EU will very shortly support the implementation of a Port Security Programme for the Indian Ocean and the Eastern and Southern African region with the collaboration of implementing agencies such as International Migration Organisation , UNODC, Interpol and World Customs Organisation.

Under this programme, you the Mauritius Customs and the Mauritius Port Authority will benefit directly from technical support to undertake Port State Control Inspections on board as well as implementation of a cargo targeting mechanism to track illicit trade, drug trafficking and smuggling of weapons. The programme will support the development of regional information sharing, reporting and exchange of data on cargo and passengers. This involves capacity building for Law Enforcement Agencies and Customs Officers to track terrorist or organised crime actors travelling to the region as well as identification and seizure of suspicious cargoes and shipments.

As today we will also rely on your collaboration to ensure implementation of this important regional port security programme which falls under the broader regional maritime security architecture.

I would like to once again thank all the Customs Officers for demonstrating excellent diligence and steadfast commitment by participating actively in this capacity building programme on big data analysis.

Thank you for your kind attention.