Interviewed for BTA, the new director of the National Customs Agency, Emil Dimitrov, said that the reform he is planning is tantamount to a revolution in the customs system. Dimitrov's appointment as director of the National Customs Agency, which is subordinated to the Finance Ministry, was made public on Monday. "The first results of the activity of the agency's management should be felt within two months' time," Dimitrov said. In the past three years, he has come to be known for criticizing the customs for corruption. Dimitrov has already taken action to realize his idea of an audit of the customs administration by meeting Stoyan Dourin, President of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants (ICPA). His idea is that everything which has happened in the customs administration be checked by three independent, separate institutions - the Public Internal Financial Control Agency, the National Audit Office and the ICPA. At first the auditors will inspect the documents going one year back. They will be expected to give mandatory directions about what has to be done to improve the customs administration and make it more efficient, Dimitrov said. Then a programme will be drawn up for the most urgent actions and measures to be taken in the next few months. In Dimitrov's view, the major changes at the customs involve the introduction of an integrated customs information system and a more adequate remuneration for customs employees "to make them work for the state and not for themselves." "All new things related to the Euro-integration should be applied, and Bulgaria should become the European Union's first and last frontier enjoying the confidence of the Western administrations," Dimitrov said. "Bulgaria had the money for a customs information system already in 1992, but it has not started to operate yet as it is planned to put it into operation as late as in 2007," the National Customs Agency director said, adding: "It is difficult for me to wait so long." An international tender will be held shortly in compliance with the procedure established by the law and in consultation with the finance minister so that the system starts to operate before 2002, using the available equipment. The system must be connected to the tax information system, the company divisions of the law courts and the court registers of encumbrances on citizens' property, the National Statistical Institute, the Bureau of Financial Intelligence Agency, all ministries and institutions - both governmental and non-governmental, concerned with the customs, and organizations such as the Bulgarian Industrial Association, the associations of meat packers, of grain producers, etc, Dimitrov said. In Dimitrov's words, "the customs offices are not barriers, buildings, commodities and tariffs." "The customs offices are people who are interrelated," he said. "It is difficult to find the right people, to give them scope and opportunity to prove their worth, and to be sure that they will be loyal to the institutions." Replying the question if he expects resistance and where it may come from, Dimitrov said he sees dangerous and rather wealthy opponents in the people who benefit from illicit activities - groupings involved in money laundering, financing the grey economy and patronaging party, economic and criminal interests. One of the changes on Dimitrov's plans is the establishment of a separate revenue and expenditure account that will be used for personnel training. "There should be more operational independence, and the people who have uncovered smuggling attempts that involve millions of leva and have prevented the infliction of serious losses to the state should get a proper reward. Now the maximum such people get is three minimum wages," he said. On Tuesday, his very first working day, Dimitrov received a report that certain accounting documents on the customs handling of cargoes were kept in a room not designed for this purpose instead of being archived. He was told that copies had been made of the documents, too. Dimitrov went to fetch the documents and have them properly archived personally. An enquiry will be made into the case, he said. "If anybody decides to look through some documents or analyze them, they'd better come and tell me what they need." Dimitrov has already met with part of the agency's management and asked the deputy directors to submit their resignations. Zahari Zahariev resigned as director of the National Customs Agency on Monday. "People whom I do not trust will be asked to resign," Dimitrov said. In his words, the undeclared money and narcotics which the customs seize are "a drop in the ocean", compared to the amounts actually trafficked, and yet such seizures have their effect as a preventive measure. Dimitrov believes that the introduction of the rotational principle at the customs offices has a base that should not be destroyed but further developed. "Any acts that break the relations between customs officers and people engaged in smuggling are useful because once the link is broken, it takes months to restore it." He observed, however, that if a customs officer has worked at an airport, he should not be transferred to the customs office of an airport or a land border crossing because such people acquire special skills in certain areas that should be used maximally. The measures aimed to curb corruption include forming customs examination teams at the last moment, monitoring, follow-up control and channelling the flows of risk goods.
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