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Guam Legislature backs ASYCUDA adoption to modernize customs, recoup potentially millions in lost revenue
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Summary
Legislators advanced bill 234‑38 to adopt the ASYCUDA (referred to as Asakuta) automated customs system; sponsors argued a roughly $2 million implementation could help recover tens of millions in uncollected use tax, improve border controls and integrate customs data with revenue and public‑health systems.
Senator Hahn presented bill 234‑38 to require adoption of the automated customs data system known as ASYCUDA (locally referred to as Asakuta) as Guam’s official customs management platform and to authorize implementation agreements with UNCTAD.
The sponsor said the system is widely used globally and regionally and cited an OPA use‑tax audit that identified system gaps and conservative lost‑revenue estimates of at least $65 million annually, with other figures mentioned as high as $150 million. He cited Palau as a regional example where ASYCUDA implementation produced a roughly 27% increase in tax collections.
Lawmakers discussed an estimated implementation cost (floor remarks cited about $2,000,000 for hardware and software) and noted customs is pursuing a Department of the Interior grant and that rules and an implementation plan are required within 90 days under the bill. Supporters stressed the measure is not a tax increase but a revenue‑collection modernization to capture taxes already owed under current law.
Outcome: the bill received broad bipartisan floor support, cosponsors were added, and it was placed on the voting/third‑reading file. Sponsors said they will pursue DOI grant funding and, if necessary, seek an appropriation in the FY27 budget to cover implementation.
