Upgraded Internet cargo system goes live in Uganda

Doing business in Uganda is expected to improve after the country activated its latest online cargo clearance system ahead of next month’s rollout of the Single Customs Territory with partners Kenya and Rwanda.

READ: Kenya, Uganda to clear goods faster

Last week, Uganda went live with the Automated System for Customs Data (Asycuda World). The system, which is an upgraded version of Asycuda++, is a web-based Customs management system that supports paperless cargo submission and processing through the use of electronic documents.

Joseph Mwangala, the project manager of the Customs Business Enhancement Project at the Uganda Revenue Authority, said the system is now accessible throughout the country via the Internet, after nearly 10 months of piloting it in Jinja, eastern Uganda.

Asycuda World is also available at major customs stations such as Entebbe, Malaba, Busia, Mbale, Lwakhakha, Suam River, Katuna, Mutukula, and the Kampala Customs Business Centre, Mr Mwangala said.

He said the system is ready to be linked with the Kenyan and Rwandan Customs systems once the Single Customs Territory (SCT), in which all transit cargo is cleared in Mombasa, is activated.

Three East African Community states — Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda — have agreed to implement an SCT, enabling traders from any of the countries to clear their goods at the first port of entry into the region.

READ: Uganda, Kenya Customs systems now linked online

URA introduced Asycuda in Uganda in 1997, starting with Asycuda 2.7, then Asycuda++ in 2004, and now the latest version Asycuda World.

Unlike previous versions, Asycuda World does not require a client to install software, and is accessible anywhere there is Internet.

Clients will be required to have access to a desktop computer or laptop with at least 50GB of hard disk and 1GB of random access memory.

The user will be required to log into the system using the credentials supplied by URA to access the system menu depending on their user profile, enabling a client to carry out the authorised activities that include monitoring the status of their declarations and receiving electronic confirmations of the processes immediately in an Email or SMS.

URA’s Commissioner for Customs Richard Kamajugo said the new system will hasten cargo clearance, as well as promote transparency in the Customs department.

“Since we started our pilot project in Jinja in November 2012, we have seen faster clearance of goods and services.

“In Jinja, we have seen 60 per cent of declarations from payments to exit done within one day, and in Entebbe, 45-50 per cent in a day,” said Mr Kamajugo.

Reduced clearance time

He said the tax agency is aiming for  80 per cent cargo clearance within one day, in the next two to three months.

Previously, a single clearance transaction could take about six hours to one day to capture an entry and deliver documents to the taxman for clearance, URA officials say.
Allen Kagina, Commissioner General at URA, said with the new system the business community can raise their revenues as well as taxes to the agency.

Business people have welcomed the new development, saying it will reduce their paperwork as well as the time spent monitoring and clearing their cargo.

“Since we started using Asycuda World, we are clearing our cargo faster through a click of the mouse; no lining up at URA’s offices to clear the cargo,” said Ida Misanvu, head of Spedag Interfreight branch in Entebbe.

Countries that have already adopted Asycuda World include Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Liberia, Sudan, Seychelles, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Zambia, Guinea and Lesotho plan to install the system soon.