Traders welcome regional customs territory

Local importers and exporters believe that if the regional single customs territory is adopted, it will stimulate economic growth.This is because it is expected to reduce bureaucracy that is currently hindering trade where traders complain that they normally spend a lot of money processing and clearing their goods. “I import flowers from Nairobi but I have to stop four times at borders. If this single custom union is formulated it will help us cut costs and our businesses will grow,” Donatille Nibagwire, a local trader said. “Imagine someone who imports perishable products like tomatoes; the more time you spend at borders clearing your goods, the higher the possibility of your products getting bad,” she explained. In order to reduce unnecessary bottlenecks, regional customs experts are currently meeting in Arusha-Tanzania, for a two-day meeting, to review the final draft report of a study commissioned last year on the attainment of a Single Customs Territory (SCT). This new mechanism will allow traders to clear customs online instead of border posts. The draft document, currently being discussed, recommends that EAC member states incorporate a uniform IT system to make this possible.Joseph Mugisha, a construction materials importer, urges EAC states to make the proposed system a reality. “We, as a business community, wish this to even be established in a few days. What we are dealing with presently is time consuming and expensive,” he said in interview with The New Times. According to the EAC Director General for Customs and Trade, Peter Kiguta, transformation of the bloc into a Single Customs Territory is what is required to spur liberalised trade. “We still have internal controls... Goods are not circulating freely,” Kiguta remarked, adding: “As a Customs Union we are supposed to be a one Customs territory.”Richard Tusabe, the Deputy Commissioner of Rwanda Revenue Authority, affirmed that the single customs territory would not only help the Rwandan business community but also spur the country’s economic development.“The moment you get off the port for, example in Mombasa, you will not be engaged again in other clearances. They will be even allowed to start selling their products on the way,” he said.He also noted that all costs including bonds and other tariffs will no longer exist, terming it as a great achievement for the regional bloc.It’s hoped that if established, internal tariffs and non-tariff barriers that hinder trade between the EAC partner states, will be eliminated.

National

Traders welcome regional customs territory