Transit Customs Regime Diagnosis and Recommendations ... - MCLI

Draft Report for SSATP –MCLI Mozambique Transit Regime Project
transportation or those commensurate with administrative expenses entailed by transit or with
the cost of services.‖
Jean-Francois Arvis 5 makes the comment that a transit regime is in essence, a public private
partnership by which operators are authorized for transit when they meet a set of criteria and
provide financial guarantees. In exchange, customs allows unimpeded transit for trucks or
trains. The key requirements for a well-functioning transit system, developed over centuries, are
universal and include:
Customs should make sure the cargo is secure by sealing appropriately designed vehicles
(closed trailers or containers).
The principal of the transit operation—the owner of the goods, or, more often, his agent (a
freight forwarder or trucker)—should deposit a guarantee (or a bond) covering the value of
taxes and duties that would be due in the transit country.
The guarantee may depend on the fiscal risk of the operation: for instance, some products
(such as alcohol) are considered high risk. The guarantee may be set according to the
transit operator, and in some cases (such as railways) it may be waived.
The regulation of transit operators is needed from both a customs and transport
perspective, since the transit operator provides a service that includes both brokerage and
transport.
Customs should properly manage the information on goods in transit and, specifically,
should reconcile information on entries into and exits from the customs territory. This is
necessary to identify violations and potential leakages.
In the same spirit of the public private partnership alluded to by Arvis, a process of
stakeholder engagement facilitated by MCLI with the Policy and Procedures Department,
the Southern Region, as well as the Single Electronic Window team of the Mozambique
customs department over a period of time has culminated in this project to identify current
constraints and bottle necks as well as recommend workable solutions, (legal, policy,
process and procedures) to ensure simplicity with regard to benchmarked timelines and
minimum costs which will ensure that Mozambican ports become the first choice for the
regions importers and exporters.
With the objective to deliver a well-documented report with recommendations for transit
legislation revision, and to produce an electronic manual which will enhance the competitive
5 World Bank publication - Border management modernisation – Editors - Gerard Mc Linder, Enrique Fanta, David
Widdowson, Tom Doyle – chapter 17 – Transit regimes – Jean-Francois Arvis – page 281
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