By IsmaIl musa laddu iladdu@ug.nationmedia.com

The Trade ministry today launches the long-awaited trade portal, an electronic

platform, which enables all in-terested parties to access all information regarding proce-dures, documentation, fees and other related charges with respect to exportation, impor-tation and transit of goods in one place.

According to the ministry of Trade, Industry and Coopera-tives, once the trade portal is launched, it will allow various economic sector players such as the manufacturers, traders and all interested parties to easily access information on procedures, documentation, fees and charges relating to exportation, importation and transit of goods.

It contains procedures for importation, exportation, and transit (including port, airport, and other entry-point proce-dures), and required forms and documents, applied rates of duties and taxes of any kind imposed on or in con-nection with importation or exportation,fees and charges imposed by or for governmen-tal agencies on or in connec-tion with importation, exporta-tion or transit.

The portal further details rules for the classification or valuation of products for cus-toms purposes, laws, regula-tions, and administrative rulings of general application relating to rules of origin import, ex-port or transit restrictions or prohibitions,penalty provisions for breaches of import, export, or transit formalities.

This is in addition to pro-cedures for appeal or review,agreements or parts thereof with any country or countries relating to importa-tion, exportation, or transit; and Procedures relating to the administration of tariff quotas.

According to Trade minister, Ms Amelia Kyambadde, the whole intention of this initia-tive is to facilitate export and import trade.

While signing the Memo-randum of Association (MoU) last year in September which resulted into this initiative, Ms Kyambadde said: “For a long time, we have faced challenges accessing relevant and accurate information about export and imports. The trade information portal will therefore relieve us from that pressure.”

It was out of the MoU signed between the ministry of Trade and Trade Mark East Africa-Uganda (TMEA-U) that enabled the start of a trade information portal, an initiative that has already excited private sector players.

The initiative is funded by TMEA with support from its partners such as USAID, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the International Trade Centre to the tune of about $500,000 (Shs2 billion). It will, among other things, allow the ministry to develop, update and maintain information about export, import and goods in transit.

Motivation behind the trade portal

Before the idea of the trade portal (ugandatrades.go.ug), exporters had been spending a lot of time to get all the needed information about trade from the ministry.

“A case in point when some-one made a request through the ministry website seeking information on exporting eggs to Comoros. The informa-tion was scattered. We had to get information from different Ministries, Departments and Agencies of governments and this took a lot of time,”Trade Ministry Database Administra-tor, Ms Mary Amumpaire, said in an interview.

She added: “We thought that this shouldn’t continue anymore. We needed to do things differently and we em-barked on this journey. So now you have all information in one place regarding exports of sev-eral products.”

At the moment, the trade portal provides step by step of everything that a trader needs to know about exports require-

ment of eight commodities namely; coffee, flowers, phar-maceutical products, maize, fruits and vegetables and ce-ment.

The information regarding other commodities and the range of services will also be continuously made available as plans to develop a mo-bile application that can be downloaded and installed on smartphones and tablets is on the agenda, according to Ms Amumpaire. The products are being profiled following the National export development strategy. Special considerations are being made also for com-monly traded goods by cross border traders

Objectives of the National Trade Information Portal

Provision of timely and accu-

rate information to all interested stakeholders on procedures, documentation, fees, charges for exportation, importation and transit of goods and the related addresses and contact details of the relevant officials, let alone bringing clarity and simplification to measures in order to reduce the cost, time and administrative complexity in the export, import and tran-sit of goods, particularly to the MSMEs.

Also, it aims at improving the doing of business environ-ment with the aim of attraction investment in the country and promoting export.

According to the ministry, the trade information portal is premised on the Trade Facili-tation Agreement which came into force on February 22, 2017 where 2/3 WTO members rati-

fied the agreement, Uganda inclusive. Already Uganda is a signatory to a number of trade and trade-related agreements. These include the East African Community Customs Union, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the African, Caribbean and Pa-cific- European Union (ACP/EU) Partnership Agreement (Coto-nou Agreement), the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

“Effective implementation of regional trade agreement lies not only on removal of customs duties, but also on ensuring that movements of goods and services among the member states to the agreement are enhanced,” reads a statement from the Trade Ministry.

It is based on the need to expedite movements of goods that members of the WTO and other regional trade agree-ments have negotiated and are implementing various trade fa-cilitation regimes.

Implementation, cost and benefits

According to WTO, the full implementation of the agree-ment could reduce trade costs by an average of 14.3 per cent and boost global trade by up to $1 trillion per year.

“With the trade portal in place, it means one will spend less figuring out the right pro-cedures to follow. As a result this will improve our exports, let alone reducing the costs previ-ously wasted,” the assistant commissioner external trade, Mr Richard Okot Okello said.

Platform. The Uganda Trade Information Portal is a trade facilitation platform implemented by the Ministry of Trade Industry and Cooperatives and the National Trade Facilitation Committee.

Trade portal to ease information access

Trade minister Amelia Kyambadde (2nd right), with other ministry and Trade Mark East Africa officials after signing the trade information portal memorandum of understanding recently . COURTESY PHOTO.

“There was a case of somebody who wanted to export eggs to Comoros, but the information was scattered. We had to get information from different ministries, departments and agencies of governments and this took a lot of time. We thought that this shouldn’t continue anymore. We needed to do things differently and we embarked on this journey. so now you have all information in one place regarding exports of several products,”

Ms Mary Amumpaire, Trade ministry database administrator.

PORTALThe uganda Trade Information Portal is a trade facilitation platform providing access to fully transparent practical step-by-step guides to the licenses, pre-clearance permits and clearance formalities for the most traded goods in and out of uganda: at each step, the trade portal tells the user where to go, who to see, what documents to bring, what forms to fill, what costs to pay, what law justifies the step and where to complain to in case of a problem.

according to WTO, the full implementation of the agreement could reduce trade costs by an average of 14.3 per cent and boost global trade by up to $1 trillion per year.

18 supplement. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2018WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2018. 17

Daily Monitorwww.monitor.co.ug

Trade portal> Uganda fulfills WTO requirement ...P.27

uganda trade information portal goes liveBy IsmaIl musa ladu

iladu@ug.nationmedia.com

The trade portal, which is es-sentially an electronic plat-form, will enable easy access

to among others information per-taining to the necessary proce-dures for exportation, importation, transits and applied rates of taxes.

However, the benefits of the trade portal will be supplemented by other related initiatives whose objective is also to facilitate trade, particularly export and import of commodities.

“The Uganda Trade Portal joins a number of other trade facilitation tools being implemented to ease trade such as the Electronic Single Window that brings all clearance transactions in one place,” reads the Ministry of Trade statement in apart.

The Assistant Commissioner Ex-ternal Trade in the Trade ministry Richard Okot Okello, said the trade portal will together with the other related tools further simplify trade experience hitherto considered problematic.

Trade information portal to com-pliment the electronic single win-dow system

Government with support worth $500,000 from TradeMark East Af-rica (TMEA) is set to launch a one stop portal for export, import and transit information in Uganda.

The trade portal is basically an online platform where all the infor-mation regarding export, import and transit of goods, in the country will be availed to traders, govern-ment agencies and all interested parties

While the electronic single win-dow (e-single window) allows trad-ers to clear their goods online, the trade information portal will pro-vide traders with all the necessary information to enable them under-take the transactions.

The electronic single window sys-tem is a trade facilitation initiative aimed at reducing the time it takes to clear goods.

With support from the Danish International Development Assis-tance (DANIDA) through TMEA, the ministry is working to rollout the system to several ministries, departments and agencies of gov-ernment. The two platforms are therefore complementary.

According to the Senior Director Country programs TMEA Mr Moses Sabiiti, to achieve the full benefit of the portal, while signing the mem-orandum of association with Minis-try of Trade in September last year proposed that the portal should be integrated with the electronic single window which allows traders to clear their goods online.

“Trade information portal will provide the traders with all the necessary information to enable them undertake the transaction on e-single window and this is why

the two platforms that are comple-mentary should be integrated,” Mr Sabiiti said.

Establishing the trade informa-tion portal is provided for within the WTO agreement on trade fa-cilitation, which Uganda ratified and came into force on February 22, 2017.

With support from DANIDA through TMEA, the ministry is work-ing to rollout the E-single window system to the several ministries, departments and agencies of gov-ernment. The online system pro-vides a platform for business com-munity to deal with the different regulatory agencies in the process of clearance of international cargo for export, import and transit.

Development of One Stop Bor-der Posts (OSBPs)

With support from TMEA, con-struction of three OSBPs was com-

pleted; these include; Mutukula OSBP with Tanzania, Busia OSBP with Kenya, and Mirama Hills OSBP with Rwanda. All the border posts are operating under one stop con-trol which means that a transporter or traveller clears once on one side of the border.

Construction of OSBPs coupled with other trade facilitation pro-grammes such as customs mod-ernisation has reduced the clear-ance time from eight days in 2010 to two hours in 2018. The construc-tion of Elegu border post with South Sudan is also underway.

NTB reporting system“My Ministry has continued to

implement a web based Non-Tar-

iff Barriers (NTBs) reporting system that has helped in easing and en-abling the reporting and resolution of NTBs among trade facilitating institutions,” Trade, Industry and Cooperative minister Amelia Kyam-badde said recently.

She continued: “This, in turn has reduced on the delays and costs of moving goods in and outside of Uganda across trading member states.” About 86 per cent resolu-tion of all NTBs reported through the system reduced movement of goods from Mombasa to Kampala from 21 days in 2011 to four days.

Ms Kyambadde noted that to report by mobile phone, the user dials USSD Code *201# and follows instructions to select the appropri-

ate NTB to report, and then sub-mits a complaint.

The system can be accessed us-ing any type of telephone hand-set on any network registered in Uganda from anywhere in the world on roaming facility.

The NTB reporting system that enables real time reporting of NTBs, the non-tariff measures data-base that outlines all the measures in different statutory instruments to inform ahead of time and ease trade and the electronic ping alert system that notifies when a new measure is notified at the WTO and the One stop border posts that bring all border agencies un-der one roof, will simply enhance trade facilitation further.

more initiatives facilitating trade in East african region

Support. With support from DANIDA through TMEA, the Trade ministry is working to rollout the E-single window system to the several ministries, departments and agencies of government.

How will the National Trade Portal change particularly ex-port trade?

I’m confident that the imple-mentation of the trade portal will enable traders mainly the exporters to access and obtain trade related information on a single platform and will thus significantly reduce on the time and cost of accessing informa-tion.

To what extent are the issues around trade facilitation de-railing trade in the country?

Information gap is one of the main one. And this is what we are trying to address with the National Trade Informa-tion Portal. Before that it was a nightmare getting all necessary information to do with the pro-cedures, documentation, fees and other related charges re-lating to exportation, importa-tion and transit of goods in one place. This tool now solves the problem of scattered informa-tion by putting it together on one platform. And importantly it will enhance transparency, efficiency and simplification of procedures, documentation, charges and fees relating to exportation, importation and transit of goods among mem-ber states.

As government, what spe-

cifically are you doing in ad-dressing issues of trade fa-cilitation?

We are implementing a num-ber of reforms. For example, at the regional level, a lot of work has gone in reforming Trade. The East African Community Member States have been im-plementing various Trade Fa-cilitation (TF) measures which include harmonisation and sim-plification of trade documen-

tation, One Stop Border Post facilities, Harmonisation of pro-cedures and documentation for export, imports and tran-sit. Others include Electronic Single Window, which allows traders to clear their goods on-line. So we are trying to provide information on all these facili-ties and encouraged industry players to use them.

And does the country need

more trade facilitation or consolidate the ones already in place?

The Uganda National Trade Portal joins a number of other trade facilitation tools being implemented to ease trade. These include: (i) Electronic Single Window that brings all clearance transactions in one place, (ii) the NTB reporting system that enables real time reporting of Non-Tariff barri-ers, (iii) the Non-Tariff measures database that outlines all the measures in different statutory instruments to inform ahead of time and ease trade (iv)the electronic ping alert system that notifies when a new measure is notified at the WTO and(v) the One stop border posts that bring all border agencies under one roof, are registering mas-sive dividends.

How will the trade portal work with the already exist-ing iniatives?

As noted earlier, the National Trade Information Portal will compliment the Electronic Sin-gle Window. Whereas the Sin-gle Window enables the trad-ers to clear their export, import and transit goods online, the trade portal will enable traders to access all the information regarding the documentation, procedures, fees, and changes that is needed before the trad-ers goes into the clearing pro-cess. In short, the Trade Infor-mation Portal is a platform for information provision required for transaction on the electronic single window system.

What benefits should other stakeholders from the other

regional countries expect from the trade portal?

As a Ministry, our priority in implementing the National Trade Portal is aimed at en-hancing our export, first to the regional markets, where more than 60 per cent of our exports goes, and secondly to target the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises who constitute more than 70 per cent of our exporters.

Also importantly the National Trade Information Portal Proj-ect is a Tripartite undertaking between the EAC Secretariat, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and Trade Mark East Africa, and implemented by Member States. I must thank UNCTAD, USAID support through Trade Mark East Africa and the EAC Secretariat for working together to roll out the development and implementation of Trade Por-tals in the Region. Kenya and Rwanda have already launched theirs and now we (Uganda) are good to go. The portal is also important to the regional countries because it gives them information that will allow them export across the region, solv-ing information gap they would have suffered before this tool was developed.

What are some of the chal-lenges with these trade fa-cilitations?

Not everybody is able to ac-cess information we provide online. We will continue to publicise all these platforms because we believe that once you have information then you would have solved half of the problem.

Interview. The Uganda National Trade Information Portal is the latest trade facilitation initiative by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives. The initiative which is set to be launched today, is one of the key requirements under the Trade Facilitation Agreement of the World Trade Organisation. Trade minister Amelia Kyambadde, spoke to Daily Monitor’s Ismail Musa Laddu.

By IsmaIl musa laduiladu@ug.nationmedia.com

With the launch of the Trade Information Por-tal, Uganda has finally

ticked one of the key boxes re-quiring World Trade Organisation (WTO) Member States to make available all necessary informa-tion pertaining to procedures, documentation, fees and other related charges relating to expor-tation, importation and transit of goods in all one easily accessible platform.

According to the Minister of Trade, Industry and Coopera-tives, Ms. Amelia Kyambadde, by having the entire aforementioned well packaged and presented on one platform called the Uganda Trade Portal which is essentially an electronic platform; Uganda has fulfilled one of the require-ments of World Trade Organisa-tion (WTO).

BackgroundDuring the Bali WTO Ministerial

Conference, the agreement on trade facilitation was concluded, and came into force on February 22, 2017 with 2/3 members ratify-ing the agreement. Uganda rati-fied the Agreement in 2017.

Article one of this trade facilita-tion agreement states that; Each Member shall promptly publish the following information in a non-discriminatory and easily acces-sible manner in order to enable governments, traders, and other interested parties to become ac-quainted with them:

(a) Procedures for importation, exportation, and transit (includ-ing port, airport, and other entry-point procedures), and required forms and documents;

(b) Applied rates of duties and taxes of any kind imposed on or in connection with importation or exportation;

(c) Fees and charges imposed

by or for governmental agencies on or in connection with importa-tion, exportation or transit;

(d) Rules for the classification or valuation of products for customs purposes;

(e) Laws, regulations, and ad-ministrative rulings of general application relating to rules of origin;

(f) Import, export or transit re-strictions or prohibitions;

(g) Penalty provisions for breaches of import, export, or transit formalities;

(h) Procedures for appeal or re-view;

(i) Agreements or parts thereof with any country or countries re-lating to importation, exportation, or transit; and

(j) Procedures relating to the administration of tariff quotas.

Uganda is a signatory to a num-ber of trade and trade-related

agreements. These include the East African Community Cus-toms Union, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the African, Carib-bean and Pacific- European Union (ACP/EU) Partnership Agreement (Cotonou Agreement), the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Effective implementation of regional trade agreement lies not only on removal of customs duties, but also on ensuring that movements of goods and services among the member states to the agreement are enhanced.

It is based on the need to ex-pedite movements of goods that members of the WTO and other regional trade agreements have negotiated and are implementing various trade facilitation regimes.

According to WTO, the full im-plementation of the Agreement could reduce trade costs by an av-

erage of 14.3 per cent and boost global trade by up to $1 trillion per year.

This portal is implemented by the Ministry of Trade Industry and Cooperatives partnership with USAID through TradeMark East Africa as the funding partners and UNCTAD as the technical partners.

With the trade portal in place, it means one will spend less time figuring out the right procedures to follow.

Accuracy, credibility and future plans for non-English speakers as the implementing agency, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Co-operatives instituted a five mem-ber team that has been collecting information, from the perspective of the trader, from different agen-cies and systematically document-ing with the technical assistance of UNCTAD and ITC.

Uganda fulfills WTO requirement

RANKINGOut of 190 countries surveyed, the World Bank doing of Business Report ranked uganda at number 122, while Rwanda is at number 27, and Kenya at number 80. The report highlights the cost of doing business by looking at key parameters that affects the business environments such as paying taxes, border procedures, starting a business, getting connection to power lines, resolving business disputes among others. This shows an improvement in uganda’s ranking from 134 in 2016, to 122 in 2018.

Trade minister Amelia Kyambadde. FILE PHOTO.

ONE STOP BORDER POSTSWith support from TmEa, construction of three OsBPs was completed; these include; mutukula OsBP with Tanzania, Busia OsBP with Kenya, and mirama Hills OsBP with Rwanda. all the border posts are operating under one stop control which means that a transporter or traveller clears once on one side of the border. Construction of OsBPs coupled with other trade facilitation programmes such as customs modernisation has reduced the clearance time from eight days in 2010 to two hours in 2018. Construction of Elegu border post with south sudan is underway.

The One Stop Border post at Mirama Hills facilitates trade between Uganda and Rwanda.

COURTESY PHOTOS.

The Busia One Stop Border post is one of the facilities easing trade at the borders. COURTESY PHOTO.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2018 supplement. 27 28 supplement. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2018