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- Jun 14, 2011
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[h=1]Tanzania not well prepared for single customs territory[/h]
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The number of member countries of the East African Community; Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, - Rwanda and Burundi.PHOTO|FILE
By Veneranda Sumila ,The Citizen Reporter
Posted Sunday, June 8 2014 at 10:51
In Summary
They say the main problem is that they were not involved in the preparations to SCT, and thus they do not know the part that they are supposed to play in it.
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania is still poorly prepared to start implementing the Single Customs Territory (SCT) plan next month.
Already key players say they were not involved in the process of establishing SCT. They are calling for its postponement until an awareness drive is carried out.
That is happening while the rest of the East African Community (EAC) member states started implementing the SCT in December last year and Tanzania was left out for unknown reasons.
When Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda announced plans to fast-track the adoption of SCT last year, Tanzania cried foul.
President Jakaya Kikwete told Parliament in November last year that the three countries were wrong to isolate Tanzania from SCT because it was part of the implementation of the EAC Customs Union protocol that Tanzania is a signatory and has participated fully in implementing it from the beginning.
Then the government announced that Tanzania would join SCT in July.
But that does not seem to be the case as the country is poorly prepared to implement it.
Local freight forwarders, claim the system may bring more harm to them than good. They say the main problem is that they were not involved in the preparations to SCT, and thus they do not know the part that they are supposed to play in it.
SCT will allow the deployment of revenue officers of EAC landlocked countries at the Dar es Salaam Port to collect revenue for goods destined for their respective countries. Revenue officers from Rwanda are already at the Mombasa Port and are set to come to Dar es Salaam Port soon.
This will reduce paperwork, bureaucracy and other non-tariff barriers that consume time and increase the cost of trade within the region, experts say.
Currently, when goods arrive at the first point of entry in one partner state and are destined for another partner state they are declared as transit goods. This means the owner or transporter has to post a customs bond to be able to transport the goods from the point of entry such as the Dar es Salaam Port to the border.
At the border, a new clearance process starts to allow the goods to enter the destined country. This takes a lot of time and energy and eats up the regions resources. The SCT would reduce this long process as goods destined for another member state would be cleared at the point of entry in another member state.
Treating goods as transit contradicts the principle of the EAC Customs Union where goods are supposed to be accorded free circulation within the territory, an EAC document says.
Tanzania Freight Forwarders Association (Taffa) president Stephen Ngatunga told journalists on Thursday that the initiation of SCT was aimed at meeting the needs of few people in the region.
As key players in this industry we have never been involved in any way in establishing SCT as if this means that the system is aimed at benefiting a certain group of people, said Mr Ngatunga.
Tanzania should join SCT when an awareness is raised among stakeholders on how the system will benefit Tanzanians, said Mr Ngatunga.
But the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) says plans are afoot to offer awareness seminars and training to all stakeholders, but experts say that could be too late.
We cannot stop the implementation of SCT on July 1. What we are doing now is to continue raising awareness among stakeholders, freight forwarders included, said TRA Finance director Saleh Mshoro.
Mr Ngatunga says poor preparation are of TRAs own making because Taffas efforts to get involved proved futile.
On March I wrote to the EACs director for customs asking for our involvement in procedures of establishing SCT. He responded the next day promising to call us for further discussions but as of now he has never called any of us, Mr Ngatunga noted.
By Veneranda Sumila ,The Citizen Reporter
Posted Sunday, June 8 2014 at 10:51
In Summary
They say the main problem is that they were not involved in the preparations to SCT, and thus they do not know the part that they are supposed to play in it.
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania is still poorly prepared to start implementing the Single Customs Territory (SCT) plan next month.
Already key players say they were not involved in the process of establishing SCT. They are calling for its postponement until an awareness drive is carried out.
That is happening while the rest of the East African Community (EAC) member states started implementing the SCT in December last year and Tanzania was left out for unknown reasons.
When Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda announced plans to fast-track the adoption of SCT last year, Tanzania cried foul.
President Jakaya Kikwete told Parliament in November last year that the three countries were wrong to isolate Tanzania from SCT because it was part of the implementation of the EAC Customs Union protocol that Tanzania is a signatory and has participated fully in implementing it from the beginning.
Then the government announced that Tanzania would join SCT in July.
But that does not seem to be the case as the country is poorly prepared to implement it.
Local freight forwarders, claim the system may bring more harm to them than good. They say the main problem is that they were not involved in the preparations to SCT, and thus they do not know the part that they are supposed to play in it.
SCT will allow the deployment of revenue officers of EAC landlocked countries at the Dar es Salaam Port to collect revenue for goods destined for their respective countries. Revenue officers from Rwanda are already at the Mombasa Port and are set to come to Dar es Salaam Port soon.
This will reduce paperwork, bureaucracy and other non-tariff barriers that consume time and increase the cost of trade within the region, experts say.
Currently, when goods arrive at the first point of entry in one partner state and are destined for another partner state they are declared as transit goods. This means the owner or transporter has to post a customs bond to be able to transport the goods from the point of entry such as the Dar es Salaam Port to the border.
At the border, a new clearance process starts to allow the goods to enter the destined country. This takes a lot of time and energy and eats up the regions resources. The SCT would reduce this long process as goods destined for another member state would be cleared at the point of entry in another member state.
Treating goods as transit contradicts the principle of the EAC Customs Union where goods are supposed to be accorded free circulation within the territory, an EAC document says.
Tanzania Freight Forwarders Association (Taffa) president Stephen Ngatunga told journalists on Thursday that the initiation of SCT was aimed at meeting the needs of few people in the region.
As key players in this industry we have never been involved in any way in establishing SCT as if this means that the system is aimed at benefiting a certain group of people, said Mr Ngatunga.
Tanzania should join SCT when an awareness is raised among stakeholders on how the system will benefit Tanzanians, said Mr Ngatunga.
But the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) says plans are afoot to offer awareness seminars and training to all stakeholders, but experts say that could be too late.
We cannot stop the implementation of SCT on July 1. What we are doing now is to continue raising awareness among stakeholders, freight forwarders included, said TRA Finance director Saleh Mshoro.
Mr Ngatunga says poor preparation are of TRAs own making because Taffas efforts to get involved proved futile.
On March I wrote to the EACs director for customs asking for our involvement in procedures of establishing SCT. He responded the next day promising to call us for further discussions but as of now he has never called any of us, Mr Ngatunga noted.
