Resolved complaints

Showing items 161 to 180 of 914
Complaint number NTB Type
Category 1. Government participation in trade & restrictive practices tolerated by governments
Category 2. Customs and administrative entry procedures
Category 5. Specific limitations
Category 6. Charges on imports
Category 7. Other procedural problems
Category 8. Transport, Clearing and Forwarding
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Date of incident Location
COMESA
EAC
SADC
Reporting country or region (additional)
COMESA
EAC
SADC
Status Actions
NTB-000-230 2.8. Lengthy and costly customs clearance procedures 2009-07-28 Namibia: Namibia Revenue Authority Namibia Resolved
2011-03-09
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Complaint: Border delays due to documentation and customs procedures.  
Resolution status note: Namibia reported that the Ministry of Finance have so far appointed 61 entry level staff and interviews are still ongoing senior positions up to April 2011

 
NTB-000-230 2.8. Lengthy and costly customs clearance procedures 2009-07-28 Namibia: Namibia Revenue Authority Namibia Resolved
2011-03-09
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Complaint: Border delays due to documentation and customs procedures.  
NTB-000-249 2.8. Lengthy and costly customs clearance procedures 2009-09-08 Namibia: Ministry of Trade Namibia Resolved
2012-04-26
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Complaint: In Namibia the same information has to be provided and captured more than once in the import and export supply chain, e.g. Namport, Custom & Excise, MoF, MTI, NCCI, Carriers and Agents on exports of salt to West Africa and RSA,.  
Resolution status note: At the 3rd meeting the Tripartite NTBs Focal Points and NMC Chairs held in Dar -es-Salaam on 19-20 April 2012, Namibia reported that, a client can obtain an import or export permit in one hour at the Ministry of Trade and Industry if all the required documents are provided. With regard to the export permit the delay comes in when the product is a controlled product where the client is expected to obtain a clearance certificate from the relevant Ministry for tax purposes or when the importing country policies and regulations requires that the imported product be accompanied by authorised documents from the relevant authorities. The meeting accepted Namibia’s submission to resolve this NTB  
NTB-000-090 2.8. Lengthy and costly customs clearance procedures 2009-07-26 South Africa: SouthAfrica Revenue Services Mauritius Resolved
2011-03-09
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Complaint: There are delays in VAT refunds for Mauritian importers of South African goods. It is also not clear whether the VAT refunds re only for those companies that use South African imports.  
Resolution status note: South Africa reported that this is no longer existing  
NTB-000-090 2.8. Lengthy and costly customs clearance procedures 2009-07-26 South Africa: SouthAfrica Revenue Services Mauritius Resolved
2011-03-09
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Complaint: There are delays in VAT refunds for Mauritian importers of South African goods. It is also not clear whether the VAT refunds re only for those companies that use South African imports.  
Resolution status note: South Africa reported that this is no longer existing  
NTB-000-090 2.8. Lengthy and costly customs clearance procedures 2009-07-26 South Africa: SouthAfrica Revenue Services Mauritius Resolved
2011-03-09
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Complaint: There are delays in VAT refunds for Mauritian importers of South African goods. It is also not clear whether the VAT refunds re only for those companies that use South African imports.  
Resolution status note: South Africa reported that this is no longer existing  
NTB-000-245 2.8. Lengthy and costly customs clearance procedures
Policy/Regulatory
2009-09-08 Angola: Ministry of Trade Namibia Resolved
2011-11-30
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Complaint: The acquisition of Pre-shipment inspection numbers and consequent inspection of shipments for exports to Angola make transport pre-planning quite difficult and cause lengthy delays for the transport industry.  
Resolution status note: During the NTBs national workshop held in Angola on 30 November 2011, Angola reported that this NTB lacks clarity and complainant could not be traced to provide additional information. The complaint is therefore considered resolved unless additional information is provided.  
NTB-000-253 2.8. Lengthy and costly customs clearance procedures 2009-09-08 Angola: Ondjiva Customs Namibia Resolved
2011-11-30
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Complaint: Clearance of goods by the Ondjiva customs at the Oshikango/Santa Clara border post is too time consuming (red tape/inefficient bureaucracy).  
Resolution status note: During the NTBs national workshop held in Angola on 30 November 2011, Angola reported that its Customs service underwent a structural reform and modernisation resulting in the simplification and harmonisation of customs procedures. Clearance of goods takes maximum 48 hours, if documentation is properly submitted.  
NTB-000-254 2.8. Lengthy and costly customs clearance procedures 2009-09-08 Angola: Angola Revenue Authority Namibia Resolved
2011-11-30
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Complaint: Lack of harmonized procedures between Namibian and Angolan customs authorities make exports into Angola very difficult and generally frustrating.  
Resolution status note: During the NTBs national workshop held in Angola on 30 November 2011, it was reported that Angola has modernised customs procedures by reducing dwell time to 48 hours. Angola is also developed simplified trade regimes for informal and small scale traders, incorporating them into the trading system.  
NTB-000-352 2.8. Lengthy and costly customs clearance procedures
Policy/Regulatory
2010-02-10 SADC Namibia Resolved
2011-11-10
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Complaint: The cabotage law applied by SADC Member states contributes to high transport costs. The law does not allow an empty truck to carry back a load from a third country. For example, a South African truck dropping off a load in Namibia cannot pick up a load in Namibia destined for Botswana even though this truck is using trans Kalahari Highway linking the two countries  
Resolution status note: SADC secretariat responded that : the customs term cabotage as stated in Specific Annex E, Chapter 3 of the revised Kyoto Convention, is applied for imported goods that have not been declared under the condition that they must be transported in a vessel other than the importing vessel in which they arrived in the Customs territory are loaded on board a vessel at a place in the Customs territory and are transported to another place in the same Customs territory where they are then unloaded and cleared. The term can also be used for the same purposes for air transportation (domestic flights).

Looking to the complaint technically, one of the SADC Secretariat key objectives is to reduce the costs of doing business in the region. However, some interventions of the Secretariat are bounded by its regional economic integration process. SADC is currently a FTA among its 11 Member States, enabling goods originating in Member States applying the FTA to enter duty free and quota free under certain conditions stated in the SADC Protocol on Trade. For this economic activity, economic operators are not obliged to be registered as economic operators in the countries were goods are delivered. A deeper regional economic integration would be needed in order to allow foreign economic operators to engage in business activities in Member States, benefiting from local business opportunities but also fiscal obligations. This is a level of economic integration closer to common market and which unfortunately, the SADC Protocol on Trade does not provide for.
 
NTB-000-374 2.8. Lengthy and costly customs clearance procedures 2010-02-10 COMESA Zimbabwe Resolved
2019-10-12
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Complaint: Lack of a SADC simplified trading regime hampers small traders from doing business with their SADC counterparts.  
Resolution status note: During the national Workshop to launch SMS tool for Zimbabwe and training on online system, held on 10- 12 October 2019, Zimbabwe reviewed all outstanding NTBs and reported that SADC had made progress in developing the SADC STR and therefore this resolves the issue.  
NTB-000-130 2.8. Lengthy and costly customs clearance procedures 2009-07-26 Eswatini: Bordergate Eswatini Resolved
2011-06-06
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Complaint: Lack of proper customs procedures and harmonization at the boarder posts. Customs regulations differ per individual officer, per border post , per country. There is no standard procedure of operation which is common to SADC countries  
Resolution status note: Swaziland reported that the Swaziland Revenue Authority (SRA) started operating in January 2011 and replaces the Department of Customs and Excise. The organization is therefore fairly new and is still in process of developing appropriate customs clearances procedures which will be uniformly applied at all border posts. This also applies to recruitment and training of staff which is still is ongoing to reach the desired levels which will bring efficiencies in the provision of service at all borders.  
Products: 2004.90: Vegetables and mixtures of vegetables, prepared or preserved otherwise than by vinegar or acetic acid, frozen (excl. preserved by sugar, and tomatoes, mushrooms, truffles and potatoes, unmixed)  
NTB-000-328 2.8. Lengthy and costly customs clearance procedures
Policy/Regulatory
2009-09-09 Eswatini: Revenue Authority Eswatini Resolved
2011-06-06
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Complaint: The customs declaration system linking Swaziland Borders is not automated.  
Resolution status note: Swaziland reported that the Swaziland Revenue Authority (SRA) started operating in January 2011 and replaces the Department of Customs and Excise. The organization is therefore fairly new and is still in process of developing appropriate customs clearances procedures which will be uniformly applied at all border posts. This also applies to recruitment and training of staff which is still is ongoing to reach the desired levels which will bring efficiencies in the provision of service at all borders.  
NTB-000-132 2.8. Lengthy and costly customs clearance procedures
Policy/Regulatory
2009-07-26 South Africa: South Africa Revenue Services Eswatini Resolved
2012-04-26
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Complaint: South Africa is charging a fine of E1000.0 per set of customs documents for documents not acquitted within a month.  
Resolution status note: At the 3rd meeting the Tripartite NTBs Focal Points and NMC Chairs held in Dar -es-Salaam on 19-20 April 2012,South Africa reported that this is a standing transit regulation. Swaziland and South Africa agreed that South Africa would provide the regulation for distribution to stakeholders. It was therefore resolved that the NTB be considered resolved.  
NTB-000-120 2.8. Lengthy and costly customs clearance procedures 2009-07-26 Seychelles: Ministry of Trade Seychelles Resolved
2010-07-29
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Complaint: The administrative procedures for issuing import licences require improved efficiency  
Resolution status note: Seychelles reported that Infrastructural and human resources limitations being addressed  
NTB-000-121 2.8. Lengthy and costly customs clearance procedures 2009-07-26 Seychelles: Customs Eswatini Resolved
2011-06-03
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Complaint: There is total lack of consistency in the application of customs procedures at all clearing offices.  
Resolution status note: Seychelles reportd that the situation has much improved with ASYCUDA++  
NTB-000-089 2.8. Lengthy and costly customs clearance procedures 2009-07-26 Tanzania: Tanzania Revenue Authority Mauritius Resolved
2011-05-23
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Complaint: There are long administrative procedures at the customs department with Tanzania Revenue Authority and other affiliated organizations. There are too many stages to go through before a container is released.  
Resolution status note: Tanzania reported that easing of Customs Procedures and Improvement in Customs Clearance; Documentation procedures have been decentralized as a result of use of online lodging of documents and extended working hours at the custom's department, among other improvements.  
NTB-000-149 2.8. Lengthy and costly customs clearance procedures 2009-07-27 Tanzania: Tanzania Revenue Authority Tanzania Resolved
2011-07-28
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Complaint: Despite efforts to improve the situation, customs procedures in Tanzania are cumbersome. In most cases, depending on the type of product, there is a long verification chain that involves many steps and numerous documents have to be handled/exchanged in the process of importing.  
Resolution status note: Tanzania Revenue Authority reported that all customs documentation are now obtained and processed online. Traders engage Clearing Agents for clearing goods who obtain all documents online.  
NTB-000-154 2.8. Lengthy and costly customs clearance procedures 2009-07-27 Tanzania: Tanzania Bureau of Standards Tanzania Resolved
2011-07-28
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Complaint: Delays and high cost of screening honey. Tanzania Bureau of Standards takes from 3 to 4 weeks with constant follow up; 20 items are screened on payment of T50,000/-  
Resolution status note: Tanzania Bureau of Standards reported that there is some improvement on the dwell time at TBS Test house. There has been an influx of samples in the food sector which has resulted in companies having to wait for maximum 1-2 weeks. The current capacity of the conformity infrastructure (soft and hard), has necessitated that TBS Laboratory applies a first come first attended procedure. TBS encourages the business community not to wait until the last hour before they lodge their enquiry.

2. The cost of conducting an analysis is determined by the type of analysis to be conducted and therefore the cost of the reagents which goes up with time. Example, the current (2011) analysis cost for Honey is 160,000.00Tanzanian Shillings per sample.
 
NTB-000-092 2.8. Lengthy and costly customs clearance procedures 2009-07-26 Tanzania: Dar-es-Salaam Port Mauritius Resolved
2011-05-23
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Complaint: Tanzania demands pre-shipment inspection for exports from Mauritius. The lack of appointed inspection company in Mauritius makes abiding to the requirements of pre-inspection difficult.  
Resolution status note: Tanzania reported that there is no pre-shipment inspection for exports from Mauritius.  
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