Haiti: Strengthening Customs in a Context of Insecurity

An April 2024 note on what gang control has done to Haiti's customs administration, and what can still be done about it. It starts from the arithmetic of the revenue base: at 6.3 percent of GDP in 2023 Haiti's tax revenue is the lowest in Latin America and the Caribbean and is insufficient to fund basic public services, and customs revenue accounts for 60 percent of it. Goods crossing a border are easier to tax than individuals or firms, which is why a state with weak institutions leans on customs, and why losing control of the border is a fiscal event and not only a security one.

The note then prices the capture directly. It records gangs charging about 4,000 US dollars per container to escort goods at land borders, a payment that competes with the customs duty itself and reveals who effectively controls the crossing. From there it works through what remains feasible: which functions can be maintained or relocated, what can be digitized to reduce discretionary contact, and how revenue can be protected while territorial control is contested.