Jamaica Customs sets out push for faster compliance and digital controls

Jamaica Customs Agency Commissioner Kirk Benjamin has outlined a three-year Customs 4.0 mission aimed at making legitimate trade more predictable through data, artificial intelligence, automation and risk controls, according to Our Today.

The programme responds in part to the different demands created by small e-commerce consignments and traditional bulk cargo. A system designed around larger shipments has to accommodate a changing cargo mix without losing sight of compliance and enforcement.

Benjamin identified stronger data-led risk assessment and better connectivity across agencies as further priorities. Those objectives concern how information is used and shared in customs decisions, alongside the technology used to process a declaration.

Resilience against hurricanes and cyber threats, together with staff development, forms part of the same programme. That places operational continuity and the capacity of the workforce alongside the proposed digital tools.

Benjamin described a business-friendly service built on predictable decisions, accessible information and intelligence-led enforcement.

Risk controls remain part of Customs 4.0, with the aim of facilitating legitimate trade while identifying activity that needs closer attention.

The existing ASYCUDA World platform already supports electronic declarations, manifests and payments. Our Today contrasts those digital processes with the earlier reliance on paperwork, separate agency visits and delays, giving the new programme an established technological starting point.

The discussion took place within the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce and JCA customs seminar partnership, which spans 25 years. Benjamin called for continued private-sector engagement as the agency develops its approach.

Customs 4.0 remains a programme of work. Measured clearance-time gains and the extent of deployment of its proposed AI functions were not reported.