The United Republic of Tanzania and the Republic of Burundi have moved steps closer towards operationalizing One Stop Border Post (OSBP) concept at Kabanga/Kobero border on a pilot basis. The move follows completion of the construction of temporary structures and installation of ICT systems at the border between the two Partner States with the support from TradeMark Africa ( TMA ). The operationalization of the OSBP has also been made possible through bold decision of the governments of the Partner States to sign an OSBP Bilateral Agreement in 2011.The Bilateral Agreement enables the Partner States to implement the OSBP concept while waiting for OSBP law, which is in the offing. According to the tentative timetable released during a recent bi-lateral meeting between Tanzania and Burundi at the town of Gitega in Burundi, the OSBP operations on pilot basis could start as early as 7 June, 2014. The launching of the OSBP operations at the border will be a huge relief to travelers and traders from the two Partner States as they will now only stop once for customs formalities instead of twice, thereby cutting cost and time spent at the border. Clearance will also improve following more automation of the operations. Under the OSBP concept, people entering Burundi will by-pass the Kabanga border post (Tanzania customs and immigration offices) and proceed to Kobero in Burundi where Tanzanian customs and immigration officials will work side by side. Likewise those entering Tanzania will by-pass Kobero and stop only at Kabanga where officials...

Devothe Mukaruranga, is an importer of textiles based at the ‘Quartier Commerciale’ shopping area in the city. The trader, who imports her merchandise from China, Uganda and Kenya, complains that the high roaming charges in the region ‘eats’ into her profits. “It limits me when I want to communicate with the shop attendant whenever I travel,” she said. However, Mukaruranga might find it easier in the near future to communicate with her business partners if recommendations by the 5th Northern Corridor Integration Projects Summit in Nairobi, Kenya over two weeks ago to scrap roaming charges on voice data and messages to ease communication within the region are implemented. The East African Community (EAC) partner states agreed to implement a one-area network by December 31, effectively scrapping off roaming fees. For Mukaruranga, the move is long overdue. Currently, mobile telecom firms charge customers for receiving calls while travelling outside the country. These rates could go down once roaming charges are abolished. “We have to hold regular meetings with the tax body and the telecom firms in the region to come up with a minimum charge that is favourable for all,” said Jean Baptiste Mutabazi, the head of communication and media regulation at the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (Rura) in an interview with Business Times. He said the taxes charged by the revenue authorities and interconnection fees levied by telecoms were responsible for the high roaming charges. In 2012, Rura introduced a fee where any person calling a telecom subscriber in Rwanda...

Tanzania and Burundi have moved steps closer towards being the first countries in the East African Community (EAC) to operationalize the One Stop Border Post (OSBP) concept at Kabanga/Kobero . The pilot operation is scheduled to commence in June of this year following completion of temporary structures on site and the installation of ICT systems at the border between the two countries, an achievement realised thanks to financial support from Trade Mark East Africa ( TMA ). Other than the financial support, the OSBP has also been made possible based on the bold decision by the governments of the two countries to sign the OSBP Bilateral Agreement back in 2011. The Bilateral Agreement enables the countries to implement the OSBP concept while waiting for OSBP law, which is in the offing. According to the tentative timetable released during a recent bi-lateral meeting between Tanzania and Burundi in the town of Gitega, Burundi, the OSBP operations on a pilot basis could start as early as 7th June, 2014. The launching of the OSBP operations at the border will be a huge relief to travelers and traders from the two countries as they will now only stop once for customs formalities instead of twice, thereby cutting cost and time spent at the border. Clearance will also improve thanks to envisioned automation of operations at the post. Under the OSBP concept, people entering Burundi will by-pass the Kabanga border post (Tanzania customs and immigration offices) and proceed to Kobero in Burundi where Tanzanian...

Banks in East Africa have been urged to adopt the East African Payments System which went live in November. Central Bank governors from the region were told that a total of Sh1.6 billion has been processed through the EAPS during the six months it has been active, adding that its adoption will enable banks to execute real time transfer of funds across the region’s borders. Other accrued benefits are transfer of large value payments, safety and risk control mechanisms, and reduced cost of transaction. The Central Bank of Kenya governor, Njuguna Ndung’u said at least 10 EAPS transactions are processed daily and the payment system has handled 1,106 transactions since it went live. “The system is expected to promote, facilitate and support trade within the East African Community region,” he said. He spoke during the launch of the payment system, which was attended by the heads of EAC central banks, in Nairobi last week. The CBK governor said the EAPS system has been in use among central and commercial banks in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Banks in Rwanda and Burundi are expected to join the payment system before the year ends. “EAPS will enable the public to send and receive payments on real time basis. Its implementation will address deficiencies in the cross border payment methods,” he said. According to the governor, EAPS has integrated Real Time Gross Settlement systems of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. He said the system is safe and secure. Ndung’u said the system reduces transaction costs...

East Africans may soon enjoy a smooth trade flow if the Single Customs Territory (SCT) is fully rolled out. Under the arrangement, the EAC member states will adopt a destination model of goods clearance, where assessment and collection of revenue is to be done at the first point of entry. This has already started in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda after a meeting at Entebbe by the three heads of state. It allows free circulation of goods in the single market with variations to accommodate goods exported from one partner state to another. However, customs administrations at destination states retain control over assessment of taxes. The Kenya Revenue Authority hosted a Single Customs Territory sensitization workshop in Nairobi yesterday, where participants were taken through the objectives and benefits of the territory. “There are many benefits that SCT brings, which include reducing the cost of doing business by eliminating duplication of processes, reducing administrative costs and regulatory requirements and enhancing the relationship between private and public sectors,” said seminar facilitator Swaleh Faraj. The SCT also helps in efficient revenue management, prevention of smuggling and is a springboard for free movement of other factors of production, he added. Once it is fully operational, the SCT is expected to speed up the movement of goods along the Northern Corridor and cut the cost of doing business in the region. The system has so far seen time taken in the clearance and transportation of fuel by Ugandan and Rwandan importers reduced by one-and-a-half days. A...

Partner States of the East African Community will jointly collect customs taxes starting July following a successful test-run on a selected range of commodities. Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda have been experimenting on the system, known as the Single Customs Territory (SCT), since April 1. Under the system, importers in the countries are required to lodge import declaration forms in their respective home countries and pay relevant taxes to facilitate the export process. Respective revenue agencies will then issue a road manifest against the import documents submitted electronically by tax officials of the importing country, reducing bureaucracy and the high costs associated with lengthy cross-border documentation. Cement, cigarettes and neutral spirits were the first products to be handled under the SCT scheme. The list of products has since grown to include Steel, edible oils, confectionery and milk. Clearance and shipment Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) senior assistant commissioner Rosemary Murithi said the system had helped Uganda and Rwanda shave off Sh40 billion in clearance and shipment costs from the port of Mombasa. The savings arose from a reduction in the number of days taken to clear goods from Mombasa port by more than three-quarters as well as removal of customs stations and road blocks along the Northern Corridor. READ: EAC market takes leap forward with single customs deal Ms Mureithi said the benefits achieved so far were expected to continue with the full implementation of the system from July, in which case Kenya will also benefit as an importer of goods from...

Less than two months to a self-imposed deadline for full implementation of the Single Customs Territory, only three out of the five East African Community countries have embraced the system. The presidents of member states in November last year agreed on a July 1, 2014, date but only Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda have begun the implementation process. Burundi and Tanzania are yet to come on board. Under the territory, tax authorities from the five partner states are expected to carry joint collection of revenues at ports of entry into the region drastically reducing the time taken to transport cargo across borders. OPERATIONAL COSTS This would cut operational costs and significantly improve the regional business climate. Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) officials said Monday they expected Tanzania and Burundi to begin implementing the decision soon. Although a protocol making provisions for the SCT was adopted by the community in 2005, the full implementation of the system has been consistently delayed during the ensuing years. “However, since the customs union came into force and subsequent conclusion of the EAC Common Market Protocol, and the monetary union, the objectives of the customs union protocol have not been realised fully,” said KRA deputy commissioner of customs Nicholas Kinoti. The official, who was speaking in Nairobi on Monday during an awareness forum, said some of the broad objectives of the customs union are to promote intra-regional trade by supporting industrial growth, attracting investment and eliminating non-tariff barriers to promote circulation of goods. SEVERAL BENEFITS He said...

Joint efforts by East African Community (EAC) member States to reduce the cost of doing business in the region have received a major boost with the planned operationalisation of the Single Customs Territory (SCT) on July 1. The move also forms a major stride towards the attainment of a fully- fledged customs union in the five member States of the regional organisation. Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda started rolling out the Single Customs Territory in January under the ‘Tripartite Initiative for Fast Tracking the East African Integration.” The initiative is part of efforts to fast-track programmes for regional integration. The three countries, which form the Northern Corridor have already installed the necessary systems and deployed customs officers to the port of Mombasa. The SCT provides for, among others, centralised clearance of goods, removal of multiple roadblocks along the transit corridor and simplification of customs procedures. “We expect to go full blast, in a phased approach, in the implementation of the SCT on July 1,” said Swaleh Twahir Faraj, an assistant manager in-charge of the Customs Department at the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). Source: Standard Digital

The three current and two future member states of the East African Community (EAC) - Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania Burundi and Rwanda – have signed a memorandum of understanding on currency convertibility, reports Coast Week. “The aim to reduce the cost of transactions for intra-EAC trade,” said Central of Bank of Kenya (CBK) Governor Njuguna Ndung’u. Ndung’u is also the chairperson of the EAC Committee of Central Banks, says that the currency conversion agreement is central to the region moving forward as consortium of modernizing economies. “It is part of the modernization efforts to enhance cross border payments across the trading bloc,” he said. ”It is envisaged to facilitate cross border transactions, which are essential for boosting intra-regional trade and as a result the monetary and exchange rate policies have been progressively aligned.” Currently the East African Payment System (EAPS) integrates the respective real time gross settlements systems of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, with Rwanda and Burundi slated for membership later in 2014. Kenya’s EAC Ministry principal secretary Mwanamaki Mabruki is also very optimistic about the benefits full integration of the regional bloc of nations will bring. “It will offer opportunities for investor to access to over 140 million consumers,” he said. Source: pymnts.com

The East African Business Council, the umbrella body of the region’s private sector, has asked governments in the five-member East African Community (EAC) to expedite implementations of the new WTO trade facilitation agreement. Council chairperson, Felix Mosha, made the appeal on Tuesday during a breakfast meeting with trade facilitation institutions and the business community in Arusha, Tanzania. WTO members in December 2013 adopted the Agreement on Trade Facilitation during the Ninth Ministerial Conference in Bali, Indonesia after 10 years of negotiations. The Bali deal aims at boosting poor countries’ ability to trade and allow them more flexibility in food security. The agreed text is currently under review by legal experts and will come into force once two thirds of the 159-member World Trade Organisation accept it. Trade and Industry minister, Francois Kanimba, told The New Times that implementation of the agreement cannot be done immediately because WTO is yet to give member countries the requisite legal implementation modalities. “By July, we’ll have got it, so that the process can start,” Kanimba said. He added that Rwanda, after a recent self assessment on how it stands on the implementation road map, realised most requirements had been attained. Steps made in facilitating cross-border trade such as the ongoing EAC one-stop border posts, and the 2012 launch of the electronic single window system, were some of the steps taken by Rwanda. Benefits “Everything, by nature of trade facilitation is always good. The trade balance for Rwanda is negative and if the Bali agreement...