EAC customs changes in the offing

What you need to know:

  • The advance information is intended to facilitate the movements of the imported goods ahead of the arrival of vessels carrying them.

Arusha. Customs administrations within the East African Community (EAC) bloc will be receiving advance information on goods crossing the national borders from overseas.

The advance information is intended to facilitate the movements of the imported goods ahead of the arrival of vessels carrying them.

These are among the highlights of the proposed amendments of the EAC Customs Management Act through a bill slated for debate in the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala).

The assembly anticipates to amend section 24 of the Act, which was passed in 2004 and enforced the following year.

The regional assembly resumes its sitting in Arusha next week. The sessions run from September 16 to October 6.

“The amendment would require a master or agent of a vessel to provide advance information relating to consignment in the vessel,” a statement issued by Eala said.

The bill was introduced to the parliament by the chairperson of the EAC Council of Ministers, Mr Kirunda Kivejinja, during a plenary in Nairobi in May this year.

The bill first sailed through in the parliament in 2016. The amendment aimed at facilitating smooth implementation of the act.

During its summit in Kampala early this year, the EAC Heads of States assented the EAC Customs Management (Amendment) Bill, 2016. At the next week’s session, they lawmakers will debate the proposed amendments.

The House will also debate the proposed EAC Statistics Bill, 2017, which seeks to establish the Statistics Bureau as an Institution of the Community under Article 9 of the Treaty and Article 21 of the Protocol on Establishment of the EAC Monetary Union.

The bill provides for the functions, powers, governance and its funding with a view to establishing the institution responsible for statistics in a bid to support the East African Monetary Union.