CUSTOMS

 Government service which is

responsible for administration of
customs laws, the collection of duties
and taxes, which also has the
responsibility for the application of other
law.
Historical background of
customs
 Trade between people has been since
time in memorial
 Rules were introduced so as not to allow
trade to pass through one territories
unless goods have been given away to
the country
 That goods were taken by these rules
were termed as duties for goods.
Cont’
 Specifiedarea were introduced to
collect duties
 In Tanzania traders in greater lakes to the
coast had to pass through feudal
chiefdom eg unyanyembe
 Collection of duties were in form of goods
and guns
 The most of traders were using
uncommon routes
Cont
cont
 In order to curb evasion rules determined
place for duty collection such bridge,
mountain, entry to town wall or to market.
 Here moved on to get oldest professional,
the customs official had been created and
that is World Customs is related to word
custom
 Using this means without knowledge, used
to understand tax on income, value added
to goods.
World Customs Organization
 International trade require reliable rules,
efficient and transparent customs procedures for
easy compliance by business community
 Therefore, Customs administration :
 Transparent procedure
 Supported by national customs laws enacted in
accordance with national trade policy

In order to cope with global competition

 Tanzania can not be insolated on it
CONT
 Tanzania cooperate with other
intergovernmental and international
organizations such as
 WCO
 UN Agencies,
 UNDP
 WTO
 This help Tanzania to support their
development of country and international
trade.
 WCO & Customs Administrations
 understand mission of WCO
 Establishes, maintains, supports and promotes instruments for
the harmonization and uniform application of simplified
effective customs systems and procedures governing the
movement of commodities, people and conveyances across
customs frontiers
 It reinforces the members’ efforts to secure compliance with
their legislations by endeavoring to maximize the level of
effectiveness of cooperation of members with each other and
with international organizations agencies in order to combat
customs and other translational offences
 Assist members in their efforts to meet challenges to modern
business environment and adapt the changing circumstances
by promoting communication and cooperation among members
with other international organizations and by fostering integrity,
human resources development transparency and improvement
in management and working methods of customs
administrations and sharing of the best practices
WCO-activities
 Development and maintenance of Harmonized
commodity
 The administration of GATT(WCO) valuation Code
convention
 Determination of origin of goods
 Works on harmonization and simplification of
customs procedures
 Reinforcement of efforts of members in security
and compliance with their legislations
 Training technical for cooperation among
members
Trade facilitation
 Cont
 Transparency within government promotes openness and accountability of a
government's and administration's actions. It entails disclosure of information in a way
that the public can readily access and use it. This information may include laws,
regulations and administrative decisions of general application, budgets, procurement
decisions and meetings. Regulatory information should be published and disseminated,
when possible, prior to enforcement to allow parties concerned to take note of it and
make necessary changes. Furthermore, relevant stakeholders and the general public
should be invited to participate in the legislative process, by providing their views and
perspectives on proposed laws prior to enactment.

 Simplification is the process of eliminating all unnecessary elements and duplications

in trade formalities, processes and procedures. It should be based on an analysis of the
current, “As-Is”, situation.

 Harmonization is the alignment of national procedures, operations and documents

with international conventions, standards and practices. It can come from adopting and
implementing the same standards as partner countries, either as part of a regional
integration process or as a result of business decisions.

 Standardization is the process of developing formats for practices and procedures,

documents and information internationally agreed by various parties. Standards are
then used to align and, eventually, harmonize practices and methods.
 To achieve these principles, full cooperation between government authorities and with
the business community is essential.
Principal laws governing
customs
 The East African Community Customs Management Act
 EACCM Regulations
 The Customs Tariff 2006
 Port and departure service Act
 Value Added Tax (VAT) act
 The Excise and tariff administration ordinance (cap 332)
 Foreign Commercial Vehicle (Transit Charge)
 Road and fuel Levy
 Tax revenue Appeal Act 2000
 Other laws prohibiting or restricting the importation or
exportation of good
Cont
Function of customs
administrations
 Revenue collection (perhaps one of the most important and certainly the oldest
function of Customs)
 Collection of trade statistics
 Preventing illegal exports and imports (interdiction of prohibited substances,
protection of cultural heritage)
 Processing of cargo, including documentary checks and physical examination
(including at international mail centres and air and sea ports)
 Surveillance of coastal and land borders to prevent smuggling activities
 Protection of external borders from illegal aliens, drugs and other criminal activities
 Responding quickly to the requirements of the globalised world, particularly to the
requirements for the implementation and management of free trade agreements
 Securing and facilitating legitimate global trade and travel
 Controlling the safety and quality of products that enter their markets
 Protecting food supply and agricultural industry from pests and disease
 Protecting intellectual property rights
 Improving service quality to facilitate foreign trade.