Presented by: Ghassan Nasrallah, Head of IT @ Customs Luxembourg, April 18th, 2012

Historical Perspective Lebanese Trade Statistics for the year 1973 was the last official distribution for the Lebanese Republic conducted by the Central Administration of Statistics. In 1975, the Civil war hit Lebanon, and Lasted 15 years, and the dissemination for Trade Statistics was halted. In 1990, Lebanon emerged with a passion for International Trade, and the Customs Computer Center was revived to gather, compile and disseminate goods trade statistics based on Customs Declarations as the only source with main objective to provide this essential information for economical, financial and commercial decision makings.

The following actions were taken: Re-activation of Customs Computer Center. Recruiting Customs IT Personnel. Contracts with UNDP IT Specialists and Data Entry personnel Data entry software (FoxPro) to gather Customs Declarations Data Entry (Tariff Code, Value, Weight, Origin, Destination, Supplementary Units) from paper declarations. Adopt FOB value for Export and CIF value for Imports. Compilation and Dissemination of Trade Statistics for goods.

Automated System for Customs Data In Year 1994, UNCTAD ASYCUDA was selected as a merchandize clearance software for Lebanese Customs, and was named NAJM meaning STAR Automated System for Customs Data Selecting ASYCUDA opened a path for Lebanese Customs to achieve many reforms such as:

1995 Customs Tariff Reform, and unified Customs Fees. 1996 Adoption of International Harmonized System tariff. 1966 IT Infrastructure for Customs Offices. 1997 Adoption for the SAD (Single Admin. Document). 1997 Launching ASYCUDA at Port of Beirut. 1998 Launching ASYCUDA at Rafic Hariri Int’l Airport. 2000 Launching ASYCUDA at Port of Tripoli. 90% Coverage of International Trade, and 95% of Customs Collections

Results: Validation of SAD declared data on ASYCUDA lead to a significant increase in the accuracy of statistics. Electronic Transfer of SAD data from ASYCUDA to the in-house Statistical Software. Adoption of International Standards for statistical classifications. Compilation and Dissemination of Trade Statistics: Initially on books (paid), Then electronically of CDs (free of charge), And finally at the Lebanese Customs Website.

The Website contains: Information about Customs and IT @ Customs, Customs Law, Customs Guide, Travelers Guide, National Tariff, Government Controls on imported and exported goods, Exemptions and Reductions of Duties, Trade Agreements, and, Trade Statistics for Goods.

The Interactive Trade Statistics of goods gets updated on a monthly basis at the Lebanese Customs Website with one month delay. Trade Statistics of goods covers: Trade Indicators Yearly Statistics Monthly Statistics 5 Years Comparative.

Trade Indicators Import General Trade. Import Special Trade. Export General Trade. Export Special Trade. Re-Export Trade. Re-Export Drawback. Transit.

Yearly Statistics (Special Trade) By National Tariff according to: Section HS1, Chapters HS2, Heading HS4, Sub-Heading HS6, HS Number HS8. By Country: Country of Origin for Imports, and Destination Country for Exports. Customs Offices. Any Combination for 2 of the above parameters.

Yearly

Monthly (Special & General Trade) And 5 years Comparative By National Tariff according to: Section HS1, Chapters HS2, Heading HS4, Sub-Heading HS6, HS Number HS8. By Country: Country of Origin for Imports, and Destination Country for Exports. Customs Offices.

5 Years Comparative Monthly

Trade Statistics include: Value in National Currency (Lebanese Pound) Value in U.S. Dollars Gross Weight Net Weight Additional units Unit of measure for Additional Unit

Trade Statistics are distributed to: Central Administration of Statistics, Central Bank, Ministries (Finance, Economy and Trade, Industry …) Managers and selected Customs Personnel, Chamber of Commerce, Local banks and newspapers, And others.

AsycudaWorld In Year 2008, the old ASYCUDA system was replace by UNCTAD AsycudaWorld Which is based on up-to-date technologies in IT and Telecommunication. AsycudaWorld was mobilized to all Customs Offices.

Gaps & problems Need for statisticians at Customs Computer Center to review all statistics before disseminations. Need for dedicated IT personnel to produce the necessary programs and reports on statistics. Lack of adoption for internationally recognized techniques for the revision of statistics before release. Failure of having Customs personnel pay the necessary attention to elements in the declaration un-related to duties to be collected. Inability of downloading prepared statistics from website.

Looking Forward Recruit statisticians at Customs Computer Center to review all statistics before disseminations. Re-vamp Statistical Software. Adopt of internationally recognized techniques for the revision of statistics before release. Renew the Lebanese Customs website to cover the following:

Looking Forward Enable the visitors for the Lebanese Customs website the possibility to download the prepared statistics. Enable the visitors for the Lebanese Customs website the possibility to print the prepared statistics according to preset prepared templates. Provide statistical analysis of published trade statistics and additional statistics. Enable the possibility to surf the website in the French language in addition to Arabic and English.

Thank you