The Lesotho Revenue Authority (LRA) reinforced its commitment to international standards and best practices during a workshop on the implementation of the Harmonised System (HS), which was held from 04 to 08 November 2019 in Maseru, Lesotho. It was organised as part of the European Union (EU) and World Customs Organisation (WCO) Programme for the HS in Africa.
The workshop brought together several stakeholders and users of the HS, both from public and private sectors. Representatives of the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Lesotho and the Lesotho Chamber of Commerce and Industry attended the workshop alongside LRA tariff managers and officers. Moreover, given the key role that the HS and tariffs play in the regional integration, observers from the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) Secretariat and the South African Revenue Service (Sars) also took part in the workshop to share their experience and perspective on the HS-related work.
Deliberations that took place during the workshop addressed a wide range of topics relating to strategies of optimisation of the existing tariff classification work practices in the LRA and the underlying infrastructure. Particular attention was paid to the implementation of HS-related standards enshrined in the WCO Revenue Package instruments and Council Recommendations.
The detailed gap analysis that was carried out during the workshop revealed that most of the fundamental building blocks of the tariff classification infrastructure were already in place in Lesotho. It was agreed that further modernisation efforts should focus on the improvement and fine-tuning of the existing structure and modus operandi. This will become part of the overall modernisation plan currently being implemented by the LRA.
Story by: Riaan de Lange
