Government of Timor-Leste

The Minister of Finance, Rui Augusto Gomes and the Chargé d'Affaires at the US Embassy, Tom Daley, launched today, August 13th, 2021, a customs trade portal to promote faster, simpler and fairer trade activities. This new customs trade portal will provide trade information easily and free of charge through the online platform: www.customs.gov.tl.

This portal, available in Tetum, Portuguese and English, contains electronic documents such as procedures, policies, legislation and other trade publications that the public can access and download. The public can also submit questions through the chatbot platform and have access to up-to-date news related to customs and trade in general.

After the launch of this customs trade portal, the Minister of Finance, Rui Augusto Gomes also launched the Strategic Plan of the Customs Authority, which consists of the vision, standards and goals of the Customs Authority. The Strategic Plan presents the reform strategy of the Customs Authority for the next five years (2021-2025) and is guided by four core values: integrity, professionalism, transparency and respect. The official documents can be accessed and downloaded on the customs trade portal.

In his speech, the Minister of Finance, Rui Augusto Gomes noted that, “the launch of the customs trade portal and the five-year Strategic Plan mark another important step for the Customs Authority. The Customs trade portal and the five-year Strategic Plan are significant initiatives and will essentially enable the Customs Authority to meet its institutional obligations to become an independent, reliable, efficient and transparent organization, placing the main focus of its service delivery on the Authority's customers”.

“Today we mark another important step in our journey to become a professional and modern Authority”, said Acting Commissioner of the Customs Authority, José de Fátima Abílio. The Commissioner recognises the importance of providing access to information and public service, considering that the long-term objective of the Customs Authority should be to “Make trade faster, simpler and fairer”.

Minister Rui Augusto Gomes also expressed his satisfaction for the leadership of the Vice Minister of Finance, Sara Lobo Brites, in the coordination and implementation of the Tax Reform and Public Finance Management policy initiative, especially in the customs services, together with the Customs Authority staff, led by the acting Commissioner, José de Fátima Abílio.

The event was attended by the Chargé d'Affaires of the US Embassy, Tom Daley, USAID Mission Director, Zema Semunegus, USAID Development Director, Teresa Miller, USAID Contracting Officer Representative, Ana Lourenço Guterres, USAID Director for the Customs Reform Project, Mark Hamill, UNCTAD Representative, Saeid Yarandi and representatives from the most relevant ministerial lines, who worked with USAID in the implementation of activities in Timor-Leste.