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CUSTOMS IN A 2016 NUTSHELL By Herbert Ssempogo have a 10:00am appointment with the I Commissioner Customs but the parking problem delays me! As I walk up to Crested Towers’ 8th floor, Dicksons Kateshumbwa sees me. “How are you?” towering Kateshumbwa, dressed in a blue suit and holding a cup of tea, asks. I tell him I am okay and follow him. I am called into his office over forty-five minutes later. The previous night, he tells me, was actionpacked due to a crackdown on smugglers. That is the huge responsibility that comes with heading the Customs Department. Kateshumbwa became Commissioner over a year ago. Reflecting on the past months, the Customs Airbus, as it is sometimes called, continues to soar. “We have had a very successful year,” he states, arguing that Customs is the organization’s “heartbeat.” Regarding revenue, the department “has performed relatively well.” Over the past year, revenue grew by over 12% from 4318.8bn to 4832bn. The average clearance time of cargo has gone to roughly 3days down from about 4 days. Kateshumbwa attributes the performance to reforms among them the One Stop Border Post (OSBP). Under OSBP, goods are only stopped once at borders. Four OSBPs namely Mutukula, Malaba, Busia and Mirama Hills have since been launched. “There is no congestion at borders anywhere,” Kateshumbwa adds. Another reform, the Single Customs Territory (pre-arrival declaration), is credited for reducing the clearance time, reducing the cost of doing business and increasing the institution’s efficiency. The accredited Authorised Economic Operators (AEO) have increased from 10 to 28. Under AEO, compliant companies enjoy privileges like faster clearance at borders and ports. AEO is beneficial to URA and importers. The Electronic Single Window, a system, which offers information and facilitates permit issuance among others, is another of the recent successes. Launched in November 2016, it is easing the work of URA, Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) and the Uganda Coffee Development Authority and other Government agencies. The Electronic Cargo Tracking system, is being adopted by Kenya. Goods are monitored from Mombasa. Trademark East Africa has funded project. Democratic Republic of Congo is also interested in the system. Customs, according to Kateshumbwa, has benefitted from “strategic and bilateral partnerships” with China, Korea, Dubai, UN 8 8
CUSTOMS office for drug control and the UK crime agencies. These have helped in staff capacity building. For example, due to collaboration with the World Customs Organisation (WCO), five staff namely Alex Lubanga, Geoffrey Balamaga, Justine Namusabi, Dennis Lutaaya and Simon Tumwesigye are accredited WCO experts. Kateshumbwa is a member of WCO’s policy committee. Additionally, the department has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with UNBS and the International Atomic Energy Council among others to create synergies. Because smuggling still occurs across the country, anti-smuggling operations continued throughout the year. A total of 5595 seizers from which sh38bn was collected, were made. From the enforcement cases, a total of 72 cases have been prosecuted, a number Kateshumbwa pointed out, is the highest since the institution’s inception. Concealed smuggled goods in Fort Portal 9 9
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Page 3 and 4: COMMISSIONER GENERAL’S FOREWORD D
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Page 17 and 18: EXCELLENT PODITRA PERFORMANCE 17 17
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