The movement of goods and services in East Africa is expected to improve from next month as Kenya and Uganda roll out online cargo clearance systems.

Uganda Revenue Authority said last week that it is piloting the Automated Systems for Customs Data (Asycuda) World in an effort to digitise its Customs operations to international standards.

The adoption of Asycuda World, which targets goods delivered by air, follows an earlier pilot project done in Jinja, eastern Uganda, for goods delivered by road. The tax body hopes to fully roll out the Asycuda World system by December.

At the same time, the Kenya Revenue Authority and URA are testing an upgraded Revenue Authority Digital Data Exchange Systems (Raddex), which will clear goods while still at Mombasa by creating a link with border Customs units such as Malaba.

“It will save clearance time —since it is web-based — and improve communication because Asycuda World offers an enhanced email platform that supports attachments,” said Richard Kamajugo, URA Commissioner for Customs.

Traders will be issued with KRA entry forms, which they will submit with the bill of lading to URA Customs for clearance pending the release of the goods from Mombasa.

Kenya is hoping to roll out the National Single Window (NSW) system next month, providing businesses with an electronic platform for the submission, receipt and processing of trade-related documents.

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The project will cover Mombasa and Lamu sea ports, airports, land ports and border posts. It is estimated that the Single Window System will save the country between $150 million and $250 million per annum in the first three years, and thereafter between $300 million and $450 million per annum.

Kenya aims to cut cargo clearance times at the port of Mombasa to a maximum of three days from the current 7-14 days, and at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to one day. For goods being moved by road, cargo clearance times could drop to just one hour from the current two days. Asycuda World will ease compilation of trade statistics and tax collection.

In addition, the system has the capacity to provide intelligent electronic risk management systems that can be updated periodically. For goods delivered by air, URA is partnering with logistics firm DHL Express to do the pilot project.

The new system works in a paperless environment as all Customs assessments and clearance are done online. Since it is a web-based system, traders need Internet access with about 50 gigabytes of hard disk and 1GB of random access memory to log onto the systems from anywhere in the world and make declarations to the Customs department.

Once the declarations have been registered at the Customs server and supporting documents electronically attached, processing starts immediately.

“Instead of waiting for an aircraft to land with the goods for processing to begin, we shall be getting all the details of the goods that are coming in advance, so the Customs officials start processing even before the aircraft arrives.

“We hope within 24 hours, traders will be able to take their goods away without incurring storage charges,” said Mr Kamajugo.

Asycuda is a web-based Customs management system that covers foreign trade procedures. The system handles Customs declarations, accounting, transit and suspense procedures.

URA has been using the Asycuda++ since 2003, but it is upgrading to the latest version — Asycuda World.

Ethiopia, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Seychelles are among the African countries that have deployed Asycuda World.