This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS PORT AU PRINCE 003068 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAR 
DRL 
S/CRS 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR 
INR/IAA (BEN-YEHUDA) 
TREASURY FOR MAUREEN WAFER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM HA PKAO
SUBJECT: CUSTOMS COLLECTION: THREE-FOLD INCREASE NEAR 
CAPITAL HARD WON 
 
 
¶1. Summary: Econoff met December 8 with new director of the 
Haiti-Dominican Republic border crossing at Malpasse, Jeantal 
Clairvil, who has increased customs revenue from USD 375,000 
to USD 1.3 million in the three months since his appointment. 
 In the past shippers have avoided taxes by under-invoicing 
their trucks and using local residents to ferry high-value 
goods across the border.  Clairvil said he had cracked down 
on both smuggling methods.  Irrespective of his success, 
Clairvil said that the USD 1.3 million did not even approach 
what should have been collected because many of his agents 
remain corrupt despite his best efforts.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. Econoff met December 8 with the newly installed Haitian 
director of customs Jeantal Clairvil at the Malpasse crossing 
between Haiti and the Dominican Republic just east of 
Port-au-Prince.  Since his installation, Clairvil said he has 
tried hard to crack down on smuggling.  As a result of his 
efforts, customs revenue at the post has increased from USD 
375,000 in September to USD 1.3 million (both figures 
converted from Haitian gourdes - USD 1 equals gourdes 40). 
He said he was not aware of contraband passing through his 
border post; drug and gun smugglers simply go around the post 
in the surrounding hills to avoid the possibility of 
discovery. 
 
¶3. According to Clairvil between 30 and 60 trucks cross the 
border per day delivering basic supplies, primary materials 
for Haitian assemblers and food staples for the Haitian 
market.  In order to avoid taxes, shippers attempt to hide 
the value of their cargoes by presenting false documentation. 
 In addition, shippers use local residents to hand-carry 
high-value items across the border and so avoid tariffs. 
Clairvil said he has worked on both problems to the chagrin 
of locals and shippers alike by arranging through Dominican 
authorities for certified inventories to accompany trucks and 
by stopping locals from walking freely back and forth across 
the border. 
 
¶4. Despite his success, Clairvil said he does not believe he 
has even approached taxing the real value of the goods that 
come across the busy border and he is concerned for his 
safely.  Of his 30 agents, Clairvil said he only trusts four 
or five.  He lamented that corrupt customs officers continued 
to aide smugglers even after his arrival.  Further, he felt 
his success made him a target.  The second day after he 
arrived, an angry crowd smashed the windows of his car 
protesting the new enforcement of the laws.  Now, he makes 
the hour drive to and from the customs office each day with 
an armed escort of four police officers. 
 
¶5. Comment: Progress at the Malpasse post is heartening. 
However, resentment from poor locals is indicative of the 
wider corruption problem that plagues Haiti.  Locals 
benefited from lax law enforcement for years and see 
smuggling as a means of livelihood, not as a bad practice 
that hurts government revenue and stifles development.  Poor 
and rich have used corruption to line their pockets and 
anti-corruption efforts in Haiti will likely continue to meet 
stiff resistance from both groups. 
CARNEY