On 24 August the World Customs Organization (WCO) announced that following the successful start of the implementation of an electronic tariff platform (e-tariff) in June 2020, the Eswatini Revenue Authority (SRA) had been progressing at a steady pace towards making the e-tariff fully operational. The new e-tariff platform was in the spotlight of a national workshop that took place in Mbabane, Eswatini from 12 to 14 August. It was organised jointly by the SRA, Global Trade Solution South Africa and the WCO in the context of the European Union (EU)-WCO Programme for the Harmonised System in Africa (HS Africa Programme).
The workshop brought together a group of SRA officers from across the whole spectrum of the departments and units that are in charge of the development and use of the e-tariff platform in Eswatini. The SRA officers gathered physically in a meeting room and were joined via a videoconferencing facility by software developers involved in the creation of the e-tariff platform as well as by the HS Africa Programme experts.
Participants of the workshop took stock of the progress achieved in the implementation of the e-tariff and the outcomes of the testing phase of the platform. Technical experts made detailed presentations on the many features and capabilities of the e-tariff, as well as its maintenance, update and integration with the other tools used by the SRA. The workshop thus marked an important step in the implementation of the new platform by enhancing the capacity of the SRA to manage it in a sustained manner.
With both the testing and the training phases having been completed, the SRA has scheduled the official launch on 01 September. The WCO is committed to providing a continued update on the Eswatini e-tariff platform.
Story by: Riaan de Lange
