Mr.Shmuel Hollander the Civil Service Commissioner visited recently the Jordan River Border Crossing to have a close view of the Customs Authority demand to increase the number of customs officers at the busy border.
The visit which was initiated by Mr, Eitan Rob, director general of the Taxes Authority was seen as an important step to improve the level of service for goods crossing the border.
Mr. Rob invited participants from the Police, Israel Airport Authority, which operates the border crossing and Mr. Ishai Shorek, director of the Israel - Jordan Bilateral Chamber of Commerce.
The visit included a tour of the border crossing & presentation given by Mr. Ilan Ohad, customs director for border crossings.
Mr. Ishai Shorek Director General of the Chamber said that the ever growing potential for export of Jordanian Israeli goods to third markets should be the driving force behind the increase in bilateral cooperation and improvement in the border infrastructure. He added that the crossing is gradually becoming an international crossing serving third countries.
Increasing amounts of cargoes are presently moving through the border and the quantities will grow dramatically when the EU Israel Jordan trade agreement is finalized. The agreement will open up the European markets to Israeli Jordanian made products.
He applauded Mr. Rob for supporting the demands to improve the service level at the border and added that Mr. Rob had said a few months ago that due to the surge in bilateral trade and the tightening of security checks, both countries should change the whole crossing concept. The present concept is not capable in handling the large quantities and therefore the two countries should devote the necessary resources towards the provision of better infrastructure which should include a heavy duty container scanner as well as a new customs house.
The fact that 19 new customs officers were recruited showed, according to Shorek, that Rob was serious when he undertook to turn the customs station at the crossing into a permanent customs house.
