Category / EAC

by Mike Poverello

WCO News – June 2017 Edition

WCO News June 2017

The WCO has published the 83rd edition of WCO News, the Organization’s flagship magazine aimed at the Customs community, which provides a selection of informative articles that touch the international Customs and trade landscape.

This edition features a special dossier on the use of collective action to fight corruption and how it can apply in the Customs context, and includes both country-specific experiences as well as the views of Customs’ partners.

It also puts a spotlight, in its focus section, on the WCO Mercator Programme, the capacity building programme designed by the WCO to assist governments in implementing the Customs trade facilitation measures outlined in the WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation.

Other highlights include articles on the implementation of a new standard to ensure that men and women receive equal pay for equal work, enhanced control of light aviation in West Africa, the use of basic mathematics to fight corruption and bad practices, and much more.

The magazine is published and distributed free of charge three times a year, in February, June and October, and is available online or in paper format. Source: WCO

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by Mike Poverello

East African countries set-up of cargo control unit

KRA-Customs-Transit-Control

Kenya Revenue Authority Commissioner-General John Njiraini announces the implementation of a common customs and transit cargo control framework to rid Mombasa port of corruption

Four East African countries on Tuesday agreed to fast-track implementation of a common customs and transit cargo control framework to enhance regional trade.

Commissioners-general from the Kenyan, Ugandan, Rwandan and Tanzanian revenue authorities said adoption of an excise goods management system would curb illicit trade in goods that attract excise duty across borders.

They said creation of a single regional bond for goods in transit would ease movement of cargo, with taxation being done at the first customs port of entry.

The meeting held in Nairobi supported formation of the Single Customs Territory, terming it a useful measure that will ease clearance of goods and reduce protectionist tendencies, thereby boosting business.

Implementation of the territory is being handled in three phases; the first will address bulk cargo such as fuel, wheat grain and clinker used in cement manufacturing.

Phase two will handle containerised cargo and motor vehicles, while the third will deal with intra-regional trade among countries implementing the arrangement.

The treaty for establishment of the East African Community provides that a customs union shall be the first stage in the process of economic integration.

Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) commissioner-general John Njiraini said the recently introduced customs and border control regulations were designed to enhance revenue collection and beef up security at the entry points.

“At KRA, we have commenced the implementation of a number of revenue enhancement programmes particularly on the customs and border control front that will address security and revenue collection at all border points while enhancing swift movement of goods,” he said.

To address cargo diversion cases, the regional revenue authorities resolved that a joint programme be rolled out to reform transit goods clearance and monitoring processes. Source: DailyNation (Kenya)

by Mike Poverello

The Single Customs Territory Experiences ‘IT-connectivity’ Startup Problems

EAC-logoSince July 2014, EAC revenue officers work together to facilitate trade within the community. Some improvements remain made; the Single Customs Territory (SCT) does present some advantages. Since the single customs territory is operational, clearing processes are established in the country of destination while the goods are still at the port of Dar es Salaam”, explains Leah Skauki, a SCT liaison officer at the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA).

Once the declaration is over, when custom duties and taxes are paid, TRA verifies the physical goods. “The office grants a notification testifying that the goods fulfil all requirements in order to get the exit note.” Within the new system, the number of weighbridges and non-tariff barriers are reduced because “truck drivers only have to show the documents which certify that the goods have undergone verification.”

Massoundi Mohamed Ben Ali, Administrative Director in Charge of Human Resources and Import – Export at the Bakhresa Grain Milling Burundi, is pleased with the new development. “Before the system was implemented, Bakhresa used to import 3800 Tonnes of wheat (40 trucks) and we were obliged to declare each truck with a different clearing agent. We now fill in one statement with one clearing agent. The procedures are done quickly with a small of amount of money”, he points out.

Clearing agents testify that the number of statement on the borders is reduced. “Before, transporters had to fill in a transit declaration (T1) on each border”, one of the clearing agents in the Dares Salaam port relates.

Aimable Nsabimana, a focal point of SCT in Dar es Salaam for the Burundi Revenue Authority, indicates that the computerised system they use is different in each country.”It is not easy to exchange data. We are forced to print documents for verification. And when the goods arrive in Tanzania, they are in the hands of the TRA which has its own software”, he notes.

Inter-connectivity of software would facilitate verification and avoid fraud. This opinion is shared by many clearing agents: “If we were interconnected, the Tanzanians would be able to easily access Burundian data and vice versa”, one of them says.

Léonce Niyonzima, programme and monitoring officer at OBR and the national coordinator of SCT, agrees that the lack of interconnectivity causes delays in the transmission of documents.

He says that all EAC countries should have been interconnected by June 2014, but due to technical problems Tanzania and Burundi still lag behind. “There is a technical committee responsible for monitoring and evaluation which will draw up the balance sheet of the challenges before ending the pilot stage at the end of this year.”

The Single Customs Territory is funded by Trademark East Africa with an amount of USD 450 thousand for the redeployment of staff, travel expenses, inspection and supervision, information technology, office equipment and assistance. Source: http://www.iwacu-burundi.org

by Mike Poverello

EAC – Business Leaders demand shift to New Trade Rules

eabc-flagsThe East African Business Council, the umbrella body of the region’s private sector, has asked governments in the five-member East African Community (EAC) to expedite implementations of the new WTO trade facilitation agreement.

Council chairperson, Felix Mosha, made the appeal on Tuesday during a breakfast meeting with trade facilitation institutions and the business community in Arusha, Tanzania.

WTO members in December 2013 adopted the Agreement on Trade Facilitation during the Ninth Ministerial Conference in Bali, Indonesia after 10 years of negotiations. The Bali deal aims at boosting poor countries’ ability to trade and allow them more flexibility in food security. The agreed text is currently under review by legal experts and will come into force once two thirds of the 159-member World Trade Organisation accept it.

Trade and Industry minister, Francois Kanimba, told The New Times that implementation of the agreement cannot be done immediately because WTO is yet to give member countries the requisite legal implementation modalities.

“By July, we’ll have got it, so that the process can start,” Kanimba said. He added that Rwanda, after a recent self-assessment on how it stands on the implementation road map, realised most requirements had been attained.

Steps made in facilitating cross-border trade such as the ongoing EAC one-stop border posts, and the 2012 launch of the electronic single window system, were some of the steps taken by Rwanda.

Benefits

“Everything, by nature of trade facilitation is always good. The trade balance for Rwanda is negative and if the Bali agreement helps us improve, it will help us address our development challenges,” the minister said.

“Rwandan traders will also benefit as trade facilitation is about easing things for them. For example, improvements in communication will ease access to vital information they need in different member countries and this will enable many to conduct trade more efficiently.”

With the agreement, WTO members established a new legal framework that fills gaps in the existing General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), in effect since in 1947. The new agreement stipulates obligations and provisions on special and differential treatment for developing and least developed country members as well as the provision of technical assistance and capacity building. Obligations include publication and access to trade related information, appeal procedures, simplification of trade procedures and goods clearance processes, agency cooperation, as well as cross-border customs cooperation.

Calling for the “swift” implementation the WTO Bali Agreement on Trade Facilitation, Mosaha said: “This will go a long way in lowering transaction costs, enhancing competitiveness of the businesses as well increasing intra EAC trade”.

Mosha said that while some progress had been made in ensuring free movement of goods, persons, labour, services and capital, challenges continued to constrain full realisation benefits from integration. Among them he cited 33 non-tariff barriers, non-recognition of the certificate of rules of origin, additional taxes and charges and lack of harmony in domestic tax regime such as excise duty, VAT and income taxes. Source: The New Times.

by Mike Poverello

Membership to several blocs hurts trade in EAC

Dr Richard Sezibera meets His Highness the Agha Khan at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha. (Sunday Times Rwanda)

Dr Richard Sezibera meets His Highness the Agha Khan at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha. (Sunday Times Rwanda)

Overlapping membership in several trade areas is impeding “free circulation of goods” within the East African Community-members states, a regional integration and trade expert has said.

Alfred Ombudo K’Ombudo, the Coordinator of the EAC Common Market Scorecard team, has told The News Times that belonging to other trade blocs outside the EAC makes members reluctant to remove internal borders to allow goods to move more freely.

According to K’Ombudo, a Common External Tariff (CET) is critical to ensure free circulation of goods through the application of equal customs duties. The EAC Customs Union protocol has a three-band structure of 0 per cent duty on raw materials, 10 per cent on intermediate goods and 25 per cent on for finished goods.

However, of the five partner states, Tanzania is a member of the SADC and subscribes to a different structure while Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda, are members of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa). On the other hand, Burundi belongs to the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).

This, according to the expert is “perforation of the bloc’s CET,” drilling a hole in the regions tariff structure as member- states trade with other countries below the agreed tariffs.

“This makes EAC countries less willing to remove internal borders because they are not sure whether goods may have come from other blocs. This is a serious structural problem that is difficult to solve because the customs union legally recognises other blocs that members belong to,” K’Ombudo noted.

Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda’s participation in Comesa and Tanzania’s membership to SADC is recognised by the EAC, but no exception is granted to Burundi for participating in the ECCAS.

Article 37 of the bloc’s Customs Union Protocol recognises other free trade obligations of partner states but it requires them to formulate a mechanism to guide relationships between the protocol and other free trade arrangements.

EAC Secretary General, Richard Sezibera, told The New Times during the launch of the Scorecard in Arusha, that there have been efforts to address the issue of overlapping membership.

“They [EAC leaders] have done two things to [try] addressing it: One is to harmonize the CET of the EAC and that of COMESA. This makes it easier for COMESA states to reduce the level of perforation,” he explained.

He added that in 2008, the heads of state decided to negotiate a free trade area between the EAC, COMESA and SADC as another way of fixing the problem.

Dr Catherine Masinde, the Head of Investment Climate, East and southern Africa at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), said: “If we were not to perforate the EAC would end up with a bigger volume of trade figures”.

She noted that since the launch of the EAC Customs Union, in 2005, the region has witnessed strong growth in intra-regional trade, rising from $1.6 billion to $3.8 billion between 2006 and 2010. Intra-EAC trade to total EAC trade grew from 7.5 per cent in 2005 to 11.5 per cent in 2011.

“This is significant growth but, I am told that this is, in fact, a drop in the ocean. That it is far from the potential of the market. I was given a figure, that $22.7 billion [in inter-regional trade] was actually lost to other regional blocs, from this region, [between 2005 and 2012] because of non-compliance with the common market protocol.” The Scorecard, Masinde hopes, will solve various EAC compliance issues as well as energize reforms to spur the bloc’s development. Source: The Sunday Times (Rwanda)

by Mike Poverello

EAC Single Customs Territory launch postponed to June

Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya), Paul Kagame (Rwanda) and Yoweri Museveni after the trilateral talks in Entebbe, Uganda. President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania and Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi stayed out of the loop of the third infrastructure summit in Kigali, Rwanda on Monday. [Photo/PPS]

Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya), Paul Kagame (Rwanda) and Yoweri Museveni after the trilateral talks in Entebbe, Uganda. President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania and Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi stayed out of the loop of the third infrastructure summit in Kigali, Rwanda on Monday. [Photo/PPS]

Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda have postponed the single customs territory (SCT) roll-out, giving Burundi and Tanzania more time to prepare for the shift.

East Africa Community (EAC) secretariat custom officer Ally Alexander told the committee on Communication, Trade and Investment in Mombasa that the implementation of the model would begin in June.

“We are looking at reducing the costs and number of days to clear the cargo from Mombasa to Kampala to take three days instead of the previous 18 days,” Mr Alexander said.

The SCT was initially planned to begin in January with the three countries moving their revenue staff to common entry and exit points to begin goods clearance. But Tanzania and Burundi protested their exclusion in the arrangement after Kenya announced in January that it was ready to start accommodating revenue officials from the two landlocked states in Mombasa, prompting the three States to go slow on their plans.

On Monday, Mr Alexander told East African Legislative Assembly that SCT would reduce the cost of doing business and bring efficiency in trade. He said for exports within the region, a single regional bond for cargo would be issued to cater for goods from the port of Mombasa to different destinations.

An electronic cargo tracking system would also be used to avoid diversion of goods into the transit market. Under the model, goods will be checked by a single agency on compliance to regional standards and instruments.

“We want to avoid agencies replicating checking on standards, when it is done once this will not be repeated,” he said.

Mr Alexander said goods would be released upon confirmation that taxes have been paid and customs procedures fulfilled.

However goods heading to the Democratic Republic of Congo which is not a member of EAC will be cleared on a transit basis.

The establishment of SCT has raised concerns among stakeholders, key among them the registration of clearing agents and job losses. Kenya Revenue Authority deputy commissioner customs Nicholas Kinoti said the concerns would be addressed through legislations. Source: http://www.businessdailyafrica.com

by Mike Poverello

Landmark East and Southern African Customs forum focuses on modernisation

WCO ESA_Snapseed

Participants from all 24 members of the WCO’s Eastern and South African region attended the forum. [SARS]

Customs officials from 24 eastern and southern African countries met in Pretoria this week to share knowledge and experience with regard to the successful modernisation of Customs administrations.

Opening the three-day forum, Erich Kieck, the World Customs Organisation’s Director for Capacity Building hailed it as a record breaking event.

“This is the first forum where all 24 members of the Eastern and Southern African region (ESA) of the WCO were all in attendance,” he noted. Also attending were officials from the WCO, SACU, the African Development Bank, Finland, the East African Community and the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID).

Michael Keen in the 2003 publication “Changing Customs: Challenges and Strategies for the Reform of Customs Administrations” said – “the point of modernisation is to reduce impediments to trade – manifested in the costs of both administration incurred by government and compliance incurred by business – to the minimum consistent with the policy objectives that the customs administration is called on to implement, ensuring that the rules of the trade game are enforced with minimum further disruption”

The three-day event witnessed several case studies on Customs modernisation in the region, interspersed with robust discussion amongst members. The conference also received a keynote addressed by Mr. Xavier Carim, SA Representative to World Trade Organisation (WTO), which provided first hand insight to delegates on recent events at Bali and more specifically the WTO’s Agreement on Trade Facilitation.

The WCO’s Capacity Building Directorate will be publishing a compendium of case studies on Customs Modernisation in the ESA region during the course of 2014.

WCO ESA members – Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Swaziland, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

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Source: SARS

by Mike Poverello

EAC – Top Regional Trading Block in Africa

Doing Business EAC 2013Improving customs efficiency can boost trade volumes and reduce the cost of doing business in the region, the Doing Business in the East Africa Community 2013 survey (Click hyperlink to view the report) has indicated.

The study conducted by World Bank (WB) and the International Finance Corporation showed that a one day reduction in inland travel times could lead to a 7 per cent increase in exports. The report also noted that easing access to finance, improving infrastructure and empowering the private sector are key in the region’s integration process.

“Transport efficiency and a favourable business environment have a greater marginal effect on exports as they boss access to foreign markets, especially in low income economies,” it indicated. “Improving logistical performance and facilitating trade may have a larger effect on regional trade, especially on exports, than tariff reduction.”

Also, economies with efficient business registration, fair tax policies and efficient transport have a higher entry rate of new firms and greater business density, meaning that they are essential to ensure strong firm productivity and macro-economic performance.

According to the report, lowering costs for business registration improves formal job opportunities as more new firms hire skilled workers. “This strengthens other sectors, including the education sector and legal systems,” said Chantal Umuraza, the director of Chamber of Industries. “Economies that rank high on the ease of doing business tend to combine efficient regulatory processes with strong legal institutions that protect property and investor rights,” she added.

According to the report, financial market infrastructure, including courts, creditor and insolvency laws, as well as credit and collateral registries, improves access to credit and boosts trade. It also noted that entrepreneurs in EAC face weak legal institutions and complex regulatory processes compared with global averages and those of the developed economies.

Despite instituting some reforms, the survey found that East African Community businesses still faced huge obstacles, while economies in other regions had improved business regulations. “As a result, EAC member states’ rating in this area has stagnated at around 117 over the past four years,” the report showed. According to the report, it requires only eight procedures and 20 days on average to start a business in the East African region.

EAC economies accounted for two of the 11 regulatory reforms implemented in sub-Saharan Africa to make it easier for entrepreneurs to start businesses, the survey said. Rwanda still has the most efficient process in the EAC to start a business and 8th globally out of 185 countries surveyed. It is followed by Burundi at 28th position, Tanzania at 113, Kenya at 126 and Uganda trails at 144.

In general, 3 of 5 EAC economies rank well below the regional average in all areas measured by the survey. Burundi eliminated four requirements to have company documents notarised, to register the new company with the commercial court and the department of taxation. As a result, it moved up 80 places in the global ranking on the ease of starting a business, from 108 to 28.

On the whole, the report indicated, the region’ fares better than other regional trading blocs on the continent on the ease of starting a business. It was ranked 84th, way above 104th position for the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) is at 110th position while the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) ranks 127th. Source: AllAfrica.com