The World Customs Organization (WCO) in partnership with the East African Community (EAC) held a national workshop for Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) on the implementation of an advance ruling system from 8 to 9 December 2022 in Kampala, Uganda under the framework of the EU-WCO Programme for Harmonized System in Africa (HS Africa Programme), funded by the European Union.

The workshop was aimed at preparing for the establishment of an advance ruling system following the assessment conducted in September 2021. In attendance were URA officials responsible for the implementation of advance ruling, representatives from the WCO, EAC, COMESA and experts from EAC Partner states-Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania where advance ruling was already established.  

The meeting was officially opened by Mr. Abel Kagumire, URA Commissioner Customs, who assured unwavering commitment towards the implementation of advance rulings. He thanked the WCO and the European Union for the continued support and reiterated that URA had completed all the requirements for automating advance ruling system and they were ready to implement soon in collaboration with the HS- Africa Programme.

During the workshop, WCO presented the tools and instruments developed under the Revenue Package for advance rulings as well as other international standards from the WTO TFA and AfCFTA provisions aimed at assisting members in the implementation of advance ruling systems. A holistic demonstration of the automated advance ruling system developed under UNCTAD was presented by the URA team and the co-facilitating experts offered constructive insights on how best to ensure an effective system based on their experience.

Taking into account the progress achieved towards implementation, the participants established an action plan with commitment to implement as soon as possible and notify the WCO on the acceptance of the WCO Recommendation of 18 June 1996 on the introduction of programmes for binding pre-entry on Classification information.

The workshop came to a close with a representative from URA reaffirming the Commissioner’s remarks that URA was ready to implement advance rulings and the support from the WCO and European Union was timely in accomplishing the few remaining steps established in the action plan.

For more information, please contact hs@wcoomd.org.