Members of The JSC Photo Taken In Front Of The Tax Administration Office In Norway
Photo Credit: J.S. Dortu

  Report on the JSC-study tour to Norway, from 8-15, June 2009

On 8th June 2009, the Joint Steering Committee commenced a study that lasted till the 15th of June 2009; to further facilitate the design of the Registry. The delegation on the study tour was headed by the Deputy Minister of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Fredrick B. Norkeh; the following individuals were members of the delegation representing their respective institutions:

 The rationale of the tour study:
• Familiarization with best practice standards on the necessary components for institutional reform and confirmation of inter-connectivity model for the Registry and other Government of Liberia institutions;
• Facilitation of benchmarking for the ideal institutional set-up for an efficient business registry;
• Technical meetings with Norwegian tax and statistics authorities to learn about institutional integration;
• Opportunities for the participants to work with NRD to finalize an implementation plan for the Registry Project, with the following components:
- Commitments on timelines for completion of Registry Project
- Commitments on additional resource allocation by the Government
The Joint Steering Committee during its stay in Norway held several meetings to include:  a. the meeting with the Bronnoysund Registry Center (BRC) of Norway b. the meeting with the Norwegian Tax Administration c. the meeting with Norway statistics house and d. the meeting with the Norway Registers Development (NRD).
The purpose of the meeting was to familiarize the members of the Joint Steering Committee with the business registration process in Norway in relation to international best practice and explore possible integration of the system with other registries such as: Tax, Statistics, Health, Land, etc.
The delegation during the meetings learned lessons that have influenced or would influenced the prospects of the registry, those lessons learnt include:
• The incremental changes made by the Bronnoysund Registry Center (BRC) of Norway to integrate other systems and subsequently generate into a Central Coordinating Registers for legal entities
• Behind each successful Register there are well functioning regulations
• The BRC is a component of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, but is independently house and headed by a Chief Executive Officer.
• The BRC is also a major employer in Bronnoysund with about Five Hundred (500) workers in a city of Five Thousand (5000) population
• The BRC serves as an information bank for the entire Norway
• The road towards the superior goals for the Tax Agency are through complete identification systems and efficient and secure IT-system
• The rule of law is an important principle, which means that government intervention must have legal basis
• The mean goal of a tax administration is correct and timely assessment and payment of taxes, and to ensure the financial foundation of public services and performance
• The transparency of the system to inform government on changes made by entrepreneurs on the name of the business, location, or legitimate signatories
• Unique Identity is a hallmark to the transparency of the system in Norway 
• The concept of the creation of a system that makes it easier for loyal taxpayers and more difficult for disloyal taxpayers, and the vigor to fight underground economy and tax crime.
• The networking of the system with other units like statistics provides the opportunity for individuals to be easily reached in relation to tax collection or payment.
The design of the Liberia Registry was reviewed during the meeting with the NRD; the proposed design which is a single-point and on-line registration procedure is expected to facilitate enterprise formalization by creating an efficient, streamlined and business friendly processes that embrace international best practices and encourage business registration;
The registry is expected to have a central office in Monrovia, with sub-offices in major commercial cities of Liberia to enhance business formalization; the online service of the registry will provide the opportunity for entrepreneurs in areas with internet coverage to register their businesses online.
In view of the design, entrepreneurs will be required to submit a single dossier to the offices of the registry for the processing of their business certificate; the dossier will be composed of the bank payment slip and business application form for formalization. The duration for registration under this system is proposed at fifteen (15) minutes for sole proprietorship, and one-two (1-2) days in worse cases for corporation.
The NRD has proposed recommendations to facilitate the establishment of the registry in accordance with international best practice; the recommendations include:
Simplified pre-registration procedures:
• abolish notarization requirements
• abolish probation requirements
• single-point-registration
• on-line registration
• distributed register entry points
• transparent fee tariff
• single fee
   Streamline registration procedures:
• single-point-registration
• on-line registration
• computerized workflow
• computerized legal map
• Liberia Business Register
• abolish re-newal                     
The Registry is expected to be created as a semi-autonomous agency under supervisory oversight of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and shall be mandated to explore collaboration with other Ministries and seek integration of functions that impact enterprise formalization; and be headed by a professional, who is appropriately skilled and competitively recruited to manage the Business Registry, whereas the Ministries of Commerce & Industry and Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and all necessary institutions will work together to designate between 15-20 persons who will work in the registry.
The registry as a semi autonomous agency will be headed by a Registrar (Chief Executive Officer of the Registry) that shall be appointed by the Minister of Commerce and Industry upon recommendation of the JSC; the Registrar considering the registry semi-autonomous status will be capable of soliciting funds from donors for the growth and expansion of the registry. 
At the close of tour, the JSC extended gratitude to the International Finance Corporation and Norway Registers Development AS for a very informative and instructive study. The participants of the study tour as duly authorized representatives of the Joint Steering Committee signed a resolution on the 13th of June with the following components:
1. Purpose of Registry
2. Institutional Location
3. Personnel requirements
4. Action Points
Purpose of Registry
• That the registry should be the platform for formalization/legalization of all business enterprises;
• That the registry should be a primary facilitator for enterprise formalization by creating efficient, streamlined and business friendly processes that embrace international best practice and encourage business registration;
• That the Registry should be a platform for business development services for Liberian entrepreneurs and should, over time, provide such opportunities for business growth as a secure lending registry and a credit reference bureau.

Institutional Location
• That, the Liberia Registry Project is an inter-ministerial initiative and the Business/Commercial Registry should be recognized as such;
• That, the Business/Commercial Registry should be created as a semi-autonomous agency under the supervisory oversight of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry;
• That, the Registry should be independently housed even if co-located with the Ministry of Commerce & Industry;
• That, under supervision of the Ministry of Commerce, the Registrar should be mandated to explore collaboration with other Ministries and seek integration of functions that impact enterprise formalization;

Personnel requirements
• That, the Ministries of Commerce & Industry and Foreign Affairs, in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank and all necessary institutions will work together to designate between 15-20 persons who will work in the Business Registry;
• That, where necessary, professional staff with requisite capacity may be recruited from external sources to staff the Business Registry;
• That, the Business Registry shall be headed by a professional who is appropriately skilled (JSC to agree on competencies) and who is competitively recruited to manage the Business Registry;
• That, the Business Registry (Chief Executive Officer of the Registry) shall be appointed by the Minister of Commerce & Industry (in consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) upon recommendation from the Joint Steering Committee.

Action Points
• The Deputy Minister of Commerce and Industry will lead a sub-committee to identify 4/5 possible locations (public building) with indicative costs to render buildings functionally ready for the Business/Commercial Registry by June 25, 2009;
• NRD shall provide expertise to evaluate buildings identified;
• The Deputy Minister of Commerce and Industry shall endeavor to keep the JSC Secretariat adequately resource;
• The JSC has received full details of the delivery schedule for the Registry Project as well as details of all critical actions that need to be taken in the next few weeks. All members of the JSC hereby undertake to discharge such functions and provide such timely action as the Registry Project to be successful.
At this juncture, a search committee of the registry location was formed; the Committee is headed by Dr. Fredrick B. Norkeh, Deputy Minister of Commerce and Industry with the following individuals as members:
I. Edward  B. Dagoseh Commissioner of Internal Revenue MoF
II. Joseph Jallah  Deputy Minister of Justice        MoJ
III. Charles B. Saygbe  Economist           CBL
IV. Reuben Sirleaf  Legal Analyst    MoFA
V. Nicholas N. Johnson Secretary-JSC    MoCI
All participants pledge re-new commitment to the Liberia Business Registry Project and look forward to the implementation and operationalization of the project by February 2010.
The  project funding is expected to experience a draw-down effect by the 1st of March 2010, if the Joint Steering fail to observe the timeline with due diligence.