| Integrity Award |
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 Sean Symonette Integrity Award Background The Caribbean Customs Law Enforcement Council (CCLEC) recognizes the importance of integrity in public service. Accordingly, CCLEC is launching an award process in honor of the integrity and sacrifice of Bahamian Customs Officer Sean Symonette who was murdered for the integrity he showed in the performance of his duties. The award will be presented at the CCLEC Annual Conference, though it does not have to be awarded on an annual basis. The award and the criteria for nomination, is:  To recognize employees, units, or organizations demonstrating an extraordinary commitment to the values of their customs service through exceptional acts of courage, honor and dedication or who have made significant progress in incorporating the twelve key factors specified by the Bridgetown Declaration into their own integrity program.   Award Process Each summer, the Chairman of the Executive Committee of CCLEC will send a letter to all CCLEC member administrations soliciting nominations for the integrity award. The Permanent Secretary will post the nomination period and process on the CCLEC web site. Nominations should reflect substantial accomplishments or innovative changes. Thus, a plan or uncompleted project does not qualify for an award. The Integrity Facilitator (head of the Integrity Unit) for each Customs administration can nominate an individual or a team. The nomination should be submitted to the Comptroller/Controller/Collector for comment prior to submission to the Permanent Secretariat. The nomination should include the employee’s name, title, country, and a short description of their normal duties. In the case of a unit nomination, the nomination should include the unit’s name, the names of its members, and a short description of the unit’s function. The narrative that constitutes the core of the nomination should describe how the candidate met the criteria including specific examples. The Facilitator should include a description of the contribution or effort and the overall impact to the customs administration. For example, did the contribution or effort result in a new process for the administration or did the contribution result in arrests, seizures, or cost savings. We have developed a template, which is attached for your reference. Members can access the template from the CCLEC Internet site or request a copy by fax from the PS. The format should be mailed each year with the letter inviting nominations. The Secretariat will assemble and distribute the received nominations to the Executive Committee members. Each member of the Executive Committee will select the one employee, unit, or organization whose work best exemplifies the criteria. Each member will also select a second place employee, unit, or organization. These selections will be forwarded to the Chairman of the Executive Committee who will tally the results. A simple majority of votes will determine the award recipient. The Chairman of the Executive Committee will break any tie. In the event that a member of the Executive Committee recommends to the Chairman that none of the nominations exemplifies the criteria, the full committee must be canvassed and a consensus reached that no award will be granted that year. The Executive Committee will acknowledge all nominations with a letter from the Chairman. CCLEC will grant an honorary award item accompanied by a letter signed by the Chairman of the Executive Committee to the award recipient. The primary purpose of the letter is that it can be placed in the employee’s official personnel folder. A matrix of CCLEC Integrity award recipients will be available on the CCLEC Internet site.   Timeline for Award Process  April 15th April 15th May 1st Annual Conference Include presentation of award in post-Conference communiqué Annual Conference Forward copy of post-Conference communiqué to the World Customs Organization for inclusion in WCO minutes/records.  Integrity Committee Membership Bermuda Chairmanship |