Transit Customs Regime Diagnosis and Recommendations ... - MCLI

Draft Report for SSATP –MCLI Mozambique Transit Regime Project
bond in the same way as what transhipment goods ought to be acquitted at the
last port of destination with no additional bond requirement.
3. MANIFESTS
It is recommended that the vessel manifest be submitted three days prior to
arrival of vessel and that partial manifest be accepted, in order to facilitate preclearance
and reduce the cost of time delays in the port.
4. TRANSIT PROCESS AUTHORISIATION
It is recommended that copy documents and electronic submissions for all
processes be accepted with clear time frames in order to speed up risk
assessment, approval, pre-clearance, processing and acquittals of transit and
transhipment cargo and that the charging of fees be abolished in line with the
South African practice or be greatly reduced so as not to inhibit regional transit
traffic. It is further recommended that the relevant power of authority of approval
of the DGA be delegated to an appropriate senior official in order not to delay
special transit approval processes.
5. STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
It is recommended that a customs team entirely dedicated to in-transit cargo be
established and that this team, in its entirety, be located in one office close to the
port of Maputo with all transit stakeholders, i.e. all customs departments, customs
clearance agents, clearing and forwarding companies, shipping lines and terminal
staff be located in one building and be linked to a common electronic system to
ensure single entry and payment in order to shorten processing times and also to
establish a regular operational transit customs forum, which MCLI can facilitate
for the Maputo Corridor, whereby operational matters can be discussed and
resolved with effective feedback into the corridor transit community.
Once the recommended changes to legislation have been adopted by the Government
of Mozambique, the next phase (Phase 2) of the project will be required to produce an
electronic manual of the said transit customs legislation, processes and procedures
and to present the manual at a validation and training workshop aiming at enhancing
the capacity of the Mozambican forwarding community to assist shippers, and
ultimately increase the attractiveness of Mozambique as a bi-directional transit
country.
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