EAC Customs Territory coming?

The EAC secretary general, Dr Richard Sezibera, said this was among his five priorities when he joined the regional organisation in 2011 and that he hoped its fruition was just around the corner. PHOTO|FILE

By Zephania Ubwani, The Citizen Bureau Chief
IN SUMMARY

The Commissioner General of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), Mr John Njiraini, made the remarks which appeared to allay disenchantment on the part of Tanzania and Burundi, the other EAC partner states which are not within the Coalition of the Willing.


Arusha. The Customs Territory, a trilateral arrangement by Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya, will be harmonised within the wider East African Community (EAC) Single Customs Territory, it was observed here at the weekend.

The Commissioner General of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), Mr John Njiraini, made the remarks which appeared to allay disenchantment on the part of Tanzania and Burundi, the other EAC partner states which are not within the Coalition of the Willing.

He told a meeting of the EAC Committee of Customs that the revenue authorities in all the five partner states were still committed to the integration process, particularly the implementation of the Single Customs Territory (SCT).

“The initiatives under the trilateral arrangement by Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya will be harmonised within the wider EAC Single Customs Territory,” he told the meeting at the Community headquarters.

EAC Customs director Kenneth Bagamuhunda noted that the Single Customs Territory was one of the key regional integration priority policy interventions adopted by both the Council and the Summit to consolidate the EAC Customs Union.

He said it was imperative that the revenue authorities took full responsibility “to ensure the Single Customs Territory is fully implemented as per the approved road map by the Council”.

The Committee established five technical working teams that will put in place operational requirements and procedures for the envisaged Customs arrangement.

The meeting also agreed on the schedule of activities for the implementation of the tool.

According to a dispatch from the EAC Secretariat, the pilot- based approach segmented on the central and northern corridors was adopted which will progressively cover all goods cleared at the first ports of entry.

The meeting agreed to integrate the ongoing activities on SCT on the Northern Corridor into the EAC wide SCT framework. A proactive, practical and result-based method of work was agreed on as a way of working on the SCT.

Recently the EAC announced that implementation of the SCT framework would begin this year as directed by the Heads of State Summit recently.

The EAC secretary general, Dr Richard Sezibera, said this was among his five priorities when he joined the regional organisation in 2011 and that he hoped its fruition was just around the corner.