Goods covered in phase I are rice, maize, sugar, cigarettes and edible oil. The additional products under the SCT include wheat and petroleum products imported through Dar es Salaam, and destined for Rwanda; wheat and all brewery imports including beer, malt, phosphorous acid and silicon dioxide destined for Burundi; and cement, salt and cosmetics from Tanzania to Burundi.
The system will also be used to clear petroleum products, rice, cotton seeds, detergents, maize flour, households and industrial plastics, bottled water, spices and fertilisers imported through the port of Dar es Salaam to Uganda. Soaps, cooking oil, steel and steel products from Kenya to Tanzania will also be under SCT.
The system seeks to eliminate dumping of goods in countries of transit, thus protecting industries and jobs.
The EAC ministers meeting last month in Arusha adopted a six-month roadmap on the full clearance of products under the different customs regimes in readiness for a full rollout of the EAC-SCT in June next year.
At the port of Mombasa, goods cleared under the system include fuel, clinker, wheat, vegetable oils, cement and confectionaries.
A recent Northern Corridor report on the SCT showed that clearance time for cargo destined for Kampala from the Mombasa port has dropped from 18 days to four, and from 21 days to six, for cargo destined for Kigali since the SCT was launched last year by the three partner states Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda.
READ: Single Customs regime: It now costs less to clear cargo
According to the report, the cost of clearing a container destined for Kampala was $3,375 before the launch of the SCT, but is now down to $1,731. The cost of clearing a container destined for Rwanda was $4,990 but is now down to $3,387.
However, there are still pending issues to be undertaken before the full implementation of the SCT.
For example, partner states need to integrate the Electronic Cargo Tracking Systems across the borders; enhance the port agencies systems to support exchange of information needed for SCT operations; and implement the regional bond to facilitate movement of goods across the region.
Currently, there is no uniform mechanism for granting systems access to clearing agents and Customs officers from other revenue authorities as required under the SCT system.
The EAC partners are also expected train personnel on the use of the Asycuda (Automated System for Customs Data) Customs clearance system.
According to Gilbert Lagat, the CEO, Kenya Shippers Council, the Customs systems between the partner states have been enhanced to enable interface between the Uganda Revenue Authority, Kenya Revenue Authority, the Kenya Ports Authority and the Tanzania Revenue Authority.
“Kenya uses the Simba Customs software, while Uganda and Rwanda use the Asycuda platform. Tanzania uses the Tanzania Customs Integrated System (Tancis),” said Mr Lagat.
“So far 60 and 90 clearing agents from Uganda and Kenya respectively have been trained on Asycuda, Simba and Tancis. More training is being organised to cover, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi.”
The East African
No comments:
Post a Comment