Barely a week after Rwanda officially started implementing the EAC Customs Union Protocol local traders have registered complaints about the bureaucratic clearing procedures.

Speaking to The Business Times, traders mainly those that channel their goods through the Gatuna-Katuna (Rwanda-Uganda) borders expressed frustration at the customs procedures describing them  as cumbersome.

According to the traders, the revenue authorities of the two countries (Uganda and Rwanda) demand a number of documents before goods can be cleared.

Notably ,they mentioned  demands by Revenue Authorities for documents showing the origin of goods being cleared . 

 "The procedures of clearing goods are time consuming because the Custom Officers ask for so many documents. The process of verification is also long,” a trader who preferred not to be identified told The Business Times on Friday.

"These officials forget for that  in the private sector time is money,” he added.

A trader dealing in importation of supermarket merchandise said  traders  prefer to import goods from Kabale town of Uganda,however  the Uganda Customs Office at the border does not the authoirty to  clear goods above $500.

"One has to go to Mbarara or Kampala to get a certificate declaring that the imported goods meet EAC rules of Origin.,” Vicent Nkusi said.

"This is not helping us because we spend a lot of money on transport and lose a lot of time,” Eugene Torero,  RRA’s Deputy Commissioner General and Director of Customs refuted the claims.

"The regulations for cross-border trade are clear and they have not changed,” 

He also mentioned that different authorities have different procedures concerning verification, though the East African Community is in the process of harmonising standards to ease the process. 

Currently, EAC countries are at different stages of adopting international standards.

The implication of the different stages of adoption of international standards is that an EAC country cannot legally import a large number of products available from within the region since the respective standard specifications are not known. This makes it difficult to access the region’s potential markets.

"We have agreed at regional level that goods worth $500 are cleared at the border. But for Uganda, goods above $500, the certificate is issued by the Export Promotion Board,” said Paul Kyeyune, the Public Relations Officer, Uganda Revenue Authority .

Under the EAC Non-Tariff Barriers inventory, customs and administrative documentation procedures are recorded as some of the trade barriers.

The barriers include varying systems for imports declaration and payment of applicable duty rates; varying interpretations of the Rules of Origin and cumbersome procedures for verifying containerized imports .

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