CLEARING Agents and traders will soon be able to pay self-assessed duties and taxes at authorised banks before presentation of the declaration, reports Mikaili Sseppuya.
They will also be able to electronically lodge in import and export declarations into a Railway Goods Shed(RGS)and pilot site starting December.
A customs release said no manual entries will be accepted after that date.
The November 24 customs release said RGS had been chosen as the new pilot site for implementing the new automated system for customs data.
The RGS would be relocated to an independent location in the Nakawa long room.
“Compliant and correct declarations would be directed to a ‘green’ channel and released after lodgement. Declarations requiring more in depth scrutiny will take a longer time to be released,” said the release signed by Commissioner of Customs and Excise, Allen Kagina.
The release said the above measures aim at facilitating honest trade and improving the turn around time at the long room.
According to the release, Customs will put in place a compliance assurance strategy to ensure that self-assessed declarations are correct.
Registration and lodgement of import and export declaration at the RGS ceased November 22, though some long room staff were there to clear the backlog of declarations under the old system.
Ends