Exporters to resume using single customs system in July

Kampala.

Ugandan exporters will resume using the Single Customs Territory in July, according to Mr James Kisaale, the Uganda Revenue Authority assistant commissioner for trade.
In an interview at the weekend, Mr Kisaale said exporters would resume using the system in July 5 following a brief suspension of the Single Customs Territory, a key stage in the attainment of the EAC Customs Union.
Uganda had rolled out the system in March starting with coffee exports pending addition of other commodities such as tea, fish and hides and skins, among others.
““We don’t tax exports. [Through the system] exports will go out with ease [thus] increasing volumes [which] will boost domestic taxes. Ideally all exports would be ready to go by July 5,” he said, noting that the system was working normally for imports.

Efficient movement of goods
Mr Joseph, the Nkandu National Union of Coffee Agribusiness and Farm Enterprises chairman, in an interview earlier, told Daily Monitor that as farmers, clearing exports through the Single Customs offers efficient movement of goods, noting that the old system was more tedious, costly and time wasting.
The Single Customs Territory seeks to minimise internal border controls on goods moving between partner states with an ultimate realisation of free movement of goods.
The system, which is operated in a highly electronic and computerised environment, will allow exporters to reduce the time spent to clear goods to two from seven days that it initially would take.