URA and Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) management are set to harmonise cargo handling and reduce clearance delays. Following a bilateral meeting held recently between the two organisations, they agreed to explore ways that will improve inter-agency cooperation and client satisfaction. This follows a backlog of complaints from Customs regarding cargo release delays and complaints about UNBS-tagged cargo being released by Customs.
The engagement not only addressed the issues that each agency has, but also drew up strategies to enhance partnership, achieve respective mandates of quality assurance and revenue collection.
The meeting also agreed to introduce Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) or Standard Level Agreements (SLAs) in order to reduce delays for taxpayers and enhance efficiency in clearing times.
“We need well-defined SOPs and SLAs to help us with clearance timelines and improving service delivery to our clients,” Abel Kagumire, the Commissioner Customs stated.
A number of issues hindering their work were brought up which included: customs entries that were not undergoing UNBS selectivity; manual release by URA for verification at the owners’ premises without informing UNBS; delays in Asycuda API modifications to enable integration with the new UNBS e-portal system; persistent non-compliance by certain clearing firms and limited space in some bonds made available to UNBS.
Aside of the challenges, both parties agreed to further investigate the tagging and un-tagging of consignments, hold monthly and quarterly meetings to resolve pertinent issues before they escalate and encourage bond In-charges to communicate with UNBS where permission is granted for verification at owners’ premises.
Furthermore, it was suggested that field staff from UNBS should start taking part in physical verifications to minimize delays.
Eng. Paul Musimami, the Deputy Executive Director Compliance at UNBS pledged their commitment to enhance service delivery and minimize delays in cargo clearance by implementing measures such as the provisional release of goods under seal.
They also agreed to hold an engagement with clearing firms in January 2024.
Additional reporting by Annet Nantongo
