yesterday.

Representatives from the four local courier companies and two Customs officials met at the Chamber of Commerce to iron out problems that had caused delays in overseas packages being delivered by courier companies.

The meeting was so fruitful that it was suggested that quarterly meetings between the parties involved would forestall the petty problems that had escalated to cause frustrating delays in recent weeks.

Complaints had been made that delays of several days impeded businesses locally.

Mr. Eric Bell, manager of Federal Express, described the meeting as "not bad'', and Mrs. Stephanie Perinchief, manager of UPS, said it was "good''.

"I was generally pleased with the discussion,'' she said.

Collector of Customs Mr. Gerry Ardis said: "There were a number of problems raised on both sides -- nothing insurmountable.

"There are bureaucratic obstructions that can be done away with, and at the same time allow Customs to keep controls in place,'' said Mr. Ardis.

The meeting was also attended by Mrs. Angela Binns, customs clearance agent for DHL Worldwide Express, and Mr. Robert Railton of International Bonded Couriers (IBC).

Deputy Collector of Customs, Mrs. Norma Smith, and the Assistant Collector of Customs at the Airport, Mrs. Brenda Raynor represented Customs.

"It sounds as though the petty problems will be dealt with when they occur.

There has never been any problem when Brenda Raynor is on the Island. The problems arise when she is away,'' said Mr. Bell.

Mrs. Perinchief said: "We discussed all the problems with Customs, and generally came to the conclusion that many of the petty problems can be cleared up.'' Problems with delays had been linked with changes to the tariff announced in the Budget on February 14. During the meeting, it emerged that both Customs and the courier companies felt confused by changes to the tariff.

Blame was attributed to the Minister of Finance the Hon. David Saul, according to Mr. Bell. He said: "Dr. Saul should have waited until the bill was passed before implementing changes to the tariff.

"Changes were released at 11 a.m. on the day of the Budget. The bill is to be amended and courier companies and Customs do not yet have copies of new tariff, which is not due to the end of April.

"I think changes to the tariff should be passed by the House of Assembly, and effective before the system is implemented. The reason behind the early announcement seems to be to ensure people don't import alcohol in bulk before the new regulations take effect.'' Other issues under discussion included bills of entry, and handwritten invoices. There was some confusion about whether there is a legal necessity to fill in bills of entry for duty free items.

"We are still passing entries with zero balance. Bills of entry are expensive. Customs said they would review the situation, but whether anything will be done remains to be seen,'' said Mrs. Perinchief.

Customs will continue to accept handwritten invoices.

The Customs companies told Customs that they needed a minimum of three months notice before changes to procedure were made. Courier companies had complained handwritten invoices were no longer being accepted, which slowed by the recovery of packages.

The courier companies said false declarations of goods were rare, and disputed the Collector of Customs, Mr. Gerry Ardis' view that false declarations were on the increase.

Mr. Ardis said there were "serious problems of misdescription or under declaration''.

But Mr. Bell and other couriers said this is not so: "There are odd occasions where false declarations are inadvertently made,'' said Mr. Bell. "We unintentionally pass a false invoice once every six months.

He disputed that the courier companies were vehicles for drug importation.

"The big volumes do not come in with the courier companies,'' said Mr. Bell.