The Namibia Revenue Agency (NamRA) vows to increase efforts to address revenue leakages to facilitate seamless trade following the piloting of the Southern African Development Community (SADC)’s Regional Customs Transit Guarantee (RCTG) scheme.
The scheme aims to use a single customs transit bond that will be recognised and applicable in SADC’s 16 member states.Â
NamRA and the SADC Secretariat are holding a workshop to sensitise the agency’s staff on the domestication and implementation of the scheme that would allow goods transporters to secure a single guarantee that covers the entire journey instead of obtaining documentation at every point of entry.Â
The scheme comes at a time when Namibia and the SADC regional economic bloc are faced with many economic and financial challenges.
At the opening of the three-day workshop on Monday, NamRA Commissioner Sam Shivute said the seamless movement of goods across the borders would serve as a catalyst to unlock the bottlenecks that exist through the supply chain, hugely due to some customs rules and processes being employed.Â
“Hence, member states and their customs administrations, like Namibia, which employ national transit bond systems that make multiple bond schemes compulsory in each country transited will hugely benefit,” he said.
The SADC Regional Customs Transit Guarantee Scheme was approved in July last year by the Committee of Ministers on Trade during the 33rd meeting held in Lilongwe, Malawi.
According to Shivute, the scheme will minimise customs controls at each border, reducing delays for goods passing through Namibia, expediting regional trade and reducing the associated costs.
“This new programme will streamline and further secure border crossing procedures and ease the process of doing business, thus aiding in attracting investment and trimming bottlenecks along our trade routes or corridors,” he added.Â
Shivute said customs administrations worldwide face various challenges in their quest to ensure smooth trade facilitation that cascades into unlocking and leveraging the competitiveness of international trade, resulting in the seamless movement of goods, people and conveyances.
He added that NamRA’s success in achieving desired outcomes depends on how it pursues and implements meaningful programmes that secure the supply chain, reduce time and cost and contribute to the economic growth of individual countries and the regional bloc.
“Similarly, NamRA cannot positively impact the livelihoods of the Namibian citizens if it does not guard against revenue leakages by reforming and modernisation initiatives that would solidify such revenue safeguards. Consequently, such initiatives can sustainably increase trade across our borders and boost our economy. So, NamRA needs to perform its duties with passion and render quality service,” he said.
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