Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) and TradeMark Africa (TMA) have launched an online portal that automates imports inspection and clearance.

The portal which cost a total of US $ 100,000 will enable traders access UNBS services from any geographical location without physical visits to UNBS offices. This will save them time and money by providing an easy access to information, quicker lodging and approval of applications and import clearance certificates, easy access to various standards permits, and ease in monitoring business transactions and receive timely email notifications.

Uganda Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives Hon. Amelia Kyambade and TMA Country Director, Allen Asiimwe graced the event.

Speaking at the launch, Hon. Kyambade said: “With this portal, UNBS will address the numerous challenges faced by traders in importing and exporting while adhering to UNBS regulations. I encourage traders to visit the database as it is an important reference point for import/export as one engages in trading activities both locally and internationally. Traders will find the portal useful as it has information on import/export requirements including import licensing requirements. We expect that the portal will be a tool for raising level of awareness of the traders on the regulations and procedures of import/export business. In the long term, it will assist in reducing delays in cargo clearance due to incorrect licenses or import/export procedures by the trader as well as assist UNBS achieve its mission.”

UNBS partnered with TMA to develop the portal in response to challenges it faced with its manual clearance. For traders it meant physical presence at the port of entry UNBS offices to lodge applications and fill other documentation, time lost due to tedious back and forth communication between inspectors working at the border posts and those based at headquarters in Kampala. For UNBS, it meant long work hours, crowded offices and increasing importer complaints.

Early tests with traders show that, use of the online portal will result to 20 per cent reduction in transaction time and up to 15 per cent reduction in indirect costs associated with subscribing for import inspection services from UNBS.

TMA Uganda Country Director, Ms Allen Asiimwe praised UNBS for automating its services and underscored TMA’s commitment to support governmental institutions to adopt ICT saying: “Automation of other government agencies trade processes and systems is one of the critical success factors to a robust National Electronic Single Window which is part of TMA’s wider ICT agenda for accelerating trade in the region. TMA vision for EAC standard bodies is that they have a regional platform where they can communicate on an agency to agency level to share alerts, information and intelligence on commodities destined for their countries. UNBS has taken the first step and for this reason we commend them for preparedness to integrate to the single window ecosystem.”

Due to adoption of the portal, UNBS will generate more revenue as a result of increase importer compliance levels, streamlined processes, improved transparency and increase volumes of imported goods as a result of reduced delays.

TradeMark Africa (TMA) provided technical and financial support to UNBS. TMA is spearheading adoption of ICT within key government and non-government institutions to transform their processes and increase efficiencies. As part of Uganda government digitization process, the UNBS will be integrated with other government agencies whose mandates involves imports through an interface with the Uganda National Electronic Single Window, an initiative of the Government of Uganda with the support of development partners such as TMA .

TradeMark Africa (TMA) is a not for profit funded by a range of development agencies with the aim of growing prosperity in East Africa through trade. TMA works closely with East African Community (EAC) institutions, national governments, the private sector and civil society organisations. TMA is a proven results driven organisation that delivers value for money for our investors.

TMA seeks to increase trade by unlocking economic potential through 3 main strategic objectives, this is by increasing physical access to markets; enhancing trade environment and Improving business competitiveness.

Increased trade contributes to increased economic growth, a reduction in poverty and subsequently increased prosperity. TMA has its headquarters in Nairobi with branches in Arusha, Bujumbura, Dar es Salaam, Juba, Kampala and Kigali.

The UNBS ePortal commonly referred to as the Import Inspection and Clearance Information Management System is a joint initiative by UNBS and TradeMark Africa (TMA).

In a move to improve operational efficiency and enabling easier access to information and services for the business community and the general public, UNBS has made the bold step of automating both internal and external processes that are critical to trade. The implementation of the ePortal will enable importers to access UNBS services regardless of their location through online services as opposed to actual visits to the UNBS offices to perform transactions. As indicated, the ePortal will enable the importers to apply for import clearance certification, receive timely notification and emails through electronic means among other benefits. The automation of UNBS ePortal is a process centric collaborative workflow system developed to improve work efficiency internally hence the bulk of the automated processes lies in the back end of the system. This includes application processing for import clearance certificates.

Source: All Africa

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of TradeMark Africa.