(DTIS) Update, Volume 1 – Main report - Enhanced Integrated ...

Simplification of port clearance procedures,Significant reduction in the number of national documents and copies to which transit transportalong the corridor was previously subjected,Deployment of the COMESA Customs Declaration Document (CD-COM) to replace nationaldocuments for customs clearance,Mobilization of funding for the rehabilitation of major highways along the Corridor, andEnhanced cooperation among its member States in matters concerning transit transport.Burundi contributes 10% to the budget of the NCTTCA, via a levy on all cargo passing through the portof Mombasa. While not perfect, the use of a tonnage levy has improved funding sustainability for theNCTTCA, and has emerged as a model that other corridors across Sub-Saharan Africa are trying toreplicate. Recently in 2007, the NCTA was updated and its scope broadened for the corridor countries tocollaborate in the transformation of the Northern Corridor into an economic development corridor.7.4.2 Central CorridorThe Central Corridor has one of the newest corridor institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa. Untilrecently, trade facilitation along the Central Corridor was addressed through bilateral agreements, mainlybetween Tanzania and the landlocked countries to its west. This was replaced in 2006 by a multilateralagreement, which also led to the establishment of the Central Corridor Transit Transport FacilitationAgency (CCTTFA). The agreement was signed between Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and theDRC. The agreement is among the Governments, and the CCTFA is governed by a Board with tworepresentatives from each country, one representing the government and the other the private sector.The institutional framework for the Central Corridor is largely inspired by the Northern Corridorexperience. However, it has a greater involvement of the private sector, something that is only beingintroduced in the case of the Northern Corridor. The governing organs are an interstate council ofministers, an executive board, and a stakeholders consultative committee, supported by a permanentsecretariat. In addition to the Stakeholders Consultative Committee, there is a more compactStakeholders Representatives Group (STAREP) that provides continuous input into the functioning ofthe corridor body. Like on the Northern Corridor, Burundi is well represented in both the policy andtechnical organs of the CCTTFA. The functions of the CCTTFA include developing and implementing: strategies designed to provide seamless transportation along the corridor performance targets and indicators for the corridor strategies to market the corridor strategies to attract more traffic to the corridor.Start up funds for the CCTFA were provided by the African Development Bank as part of the WorldBank’s East Africa Trade and Transport Facilitation Project. There are plans to introduce a tonnage-levytype funding mechanism once the corridor institution is operating fully.Burundi is an active participant in both the Northern and Central Corridors, where its interestsare represented by public and private sector stakeholders. On the Northern Corridor, a NorthernCorridor Stakeholders’ Consultative Forum brings together chief executives of public and private sectoragencies, while the Stakeholders Consultative Committee has the same configuration on the CentralCorridor. Both forums meet periodically to review operational matters and to agree on practicalsolutions, which are then implemented through the secretariats. In both cases, the corridor bodies areimportant instruments to guide regional development across the member countries. They provide a seatat the table for Burundian stakeholders to influence development priorities and investment decisions inthe coastal states in particular. Burundi should make maximum use of these opportunities.110 / 153