TURKISH JACKETS ARE ALREADY DECLARED AT 80, INSTEAD OF 30 LEVA
Interview with Frank Ferguson, Principal Customs Advisor, Crown Agents

Monday, 8th of May 2006
"Trud" (Labour) Daily

Mr. Ferguson, what has impressed you most since you came in Bulgaria?
I have been in Bulgaria for almost 3 and a half years now which is a substantial amount of time. And in general terms what impresses me most is the warmth of the people. I am a foreigner but I have been made to feel very much at home and I know that that’s the experience of my colleagues.

In terms of my work – it is also about people. I am very pleased and I will always have some satisfaction of the way that we work together with our Bulgarian colleagues. We work together not only with the customs officers, but also with the officers from the NSCOC and the NRA.

I have worked, in my career, in about 20 countries and I think that the readiness that I have seen for change here, amongst the agencies, is as good as anywhere I have ever seen.

What are the biggest changes in Bulgarian Customs which can be associated with the implementation of the programme of Crown Agents?
CA were employed from the very beginning to help to raise the revenues. And you know that last year the Bulgarian Customs Agency exceeded all records and brought in over 5 billion leva. I would like to think that we had a significant contribution to that success.

I will give you another example: when we first arrived the leather jackets, coming from Turkey, were declared at around 30 leva. Now we see similar products having more realistic valuations and prices – around 50 USD (note from the author - around 80 leva).

Another area is the introduction and the deployment of the mobile teams which are very visible and well-known to the Bulgarian public.

But it is not just about the mobile teams. We have been involved in engineering structural changes. For example, the National Control and Coordination Unit, which unites the BCA, the NRA, the NSCOC. Their job is to jointly task the mobile teams.

I think that is a fairly unique arrangement and we are very proud of it. Procedures and guidance for customs officers were also devised with our help. We also participated in forming a Consultancy commission for customs modernisation issues, which includes representatives of the Government and the business community. This forum meets each quarter and is chaired by the Deputy Finance Minister, responsible for the Customs. During these meetings all participants sit together and discuss problems and solutions. This is also very unique.

We are very proud of the way we have helped the Bulgarian Customs administration evolve their own intelligence department.

What will be the biggest challenges for the Customs next year when we open our borders to the EU?
That is a question which occupies a lot of my time. The main thing that I am doing now, in partnership with my Bulgarian colleagues, is to ensure that the reform process will continue and that it will be sustainable.

Our main aim is the structural change. At the moment, the mobile teams are all based in Sofia, but we have agreed with the DG of the BCA that the mobile teams will be regionalised e.g. deployed in the regional customs directorates. This will have great savings and higher effectiveness. But all the teams will still work to a national command structure based here in Sofia.

We are currently identifying and training Bulgarian customs officers to be leaders of the mobile teams. By the end of the year all the 15 mobile teams will be lead by Bulgarians. And they will work independently from the advisors from Crown Agents.

It is expected that the Customs revenue will decrease after Bulgaria’s EU accession. How will this problem be solved?
I used to work in Brussels and I have some idea of the impact of what being a member of the EU means. There is a great deal of speculation about this. Nobody can say for certain, of course. I think that as time goes on we will be in a better position to give a correct answer. But my own personal opinion is that if there is a decrease in the customs revenues it is purely because of the facilitation of free movement of goods and trade. And that always “ignites” the consumers to buy more goods. And more taxes are collected by this way. I think that joining the EU is the most beneficial step for Bulgaria.

Bulgarian smugglers are very skillful. Do you think that after the opening of the borders they will move their “business” to the EU?
I don’t think that the Bulgarian smugglers are any worse than any other smuggler in any other country. I think the way to answer that is to ask: Are the Bulgarian swindlers and smugglers ready for the EU? Because the EU will bring much more opportunities for law enforcement. I am an optimist.

The contract with Crown Agents expires at the end of the year. Do you expect that it will be extended?
I am the operational manager and I am not responsible for contractual issues. Our aim is to leave a legacy of sustainability when we leave.