Business Reporter
THE Namibia Revenue Agency (NamRa) has officially launched a digital platform which will see the implementation of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Electronic Certificate of Origin (E-CoO), which will see manufacturing businesses and traders registered online.
The Head of Customs and Excise at NamRa, Willbroad Poniso explained that the globalisation of trade resulted in an increase in trade flow in the SADC region, and consequently the traditional way of certifying goods manually has become obsolete in the face of voluminous trade, the nature of goods and the accompanying risks. Hence, he said, there is a need for the implementation of the SADC Electronic Certificate of Origin.
He explained that the SADC Electronic Certificate of Origin comes with a number of benefits for the exporters or manufacturers in that it allows, amongst other, for: online registration of exporters or manufacturers, online submission of all required documents, online approval and query or rejection notification to exporters or manufacturers.
Poniso explained that the system also comes with security features which will reduce fraud, adding that the customs unit has noted with concern that some traders declare the correct value of goods at their countries internal border points, whilst at the side of the Namibian border, the goods are at times declared under value, which leads to tax evasion. He shared that the new system comes with QR code security features which will track crucial information.
Poniso also said that the implementation of the SADC E-CoO will ensure that NamRA meets its strategic objective to enhance trade facilitation and pursue innovation, equally adhering to the regional and international requirements under the SADC Protocol on Trade, the Revised Kyoto Convention and the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement.
The main objective of the SADC e-CoO is to facilitate the easy movement of goods, in addition to reducing cost of doing business within the region, in relation to goods that conform to the SADC Rules of Origin.
The expected benefits from the use of the SADC e-CoO include improving intra-regional trade, promoting a paperless environment, time efficiency, increased trade and reduction of origin fraud risks.
