From 31 January, 2023 to 01 February 2023, the World Customs Organization (WCO), in partnership with the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), held a regional workshop on advance rulings in Namibia to discuss the state of play in the implementation of advance rulings while reflecting on opportunities for a regional coordination framework. The workshop was preceded by the fourth meeting of the SACU Technical Working Group on 30 January, 2023. Both meetings were organised under the HS-Africa Programme, funded by the European Union (EU).
The meeting brought together experts from all five SACU Member States: Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. Representatives from the East African Community (EAC) and Mauritius also attended the meeting to share their experiences in the implementation of advance ruling.
In their opening remarks, the SACU Secretariat acting Director, Trade Facilitation and Revenue Management and NamRA Commissioner General expressed their sincere appreciation to the WCO for organising a workshop on advance rulings for the SACU region and the continuous partnership. They also thanked the European Union for the support provided to the SACU region under the HS-Africa Programme and emphasised the importance of advance rulings in trade facilitation. The SACU Director highlighted that the support provided would go a long way to build the required capacity for the SACU region as well as to assist in moving forward the agenda for Trade Facilitation in SACU, which is a key component included in the SACU strategic plan for 2022 to 2027. The NamRA Commissioner General referred to the successful implementation and launch of an advance rulings programme in Namibia in July 2022, notably with the support of the HS-Africa Programme. He urged all Member States to follow suit and use the opportunity of the assistance and partnership under the HS-Africa Programme to set Customs work to “World Class” standards.
During the workshop, the role of advance rulings as a key component of trade facilitation was discussed and widely recognised by all the participants. An expert from the WCO discussed the existing International Standards on advance ruling, elaborating in detail the WCO Council Recommendation of 1996, the WCO Technical Guidelines on advance rulings for classification, origin and valuation (2015), WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement provisions, and AfCFTA provisions on advance rulings. Member States shared the state of play at national level as well as the challenges and improvements to be undertaken.
Following the discussions on the national state of play, experts from the EAC and Mauritius took the floor to share their experiences, challenges and lessons learned in the implementation of advance rulings.
The workshop concluded by developing recommendations for improvements to the current arrangements at the national level to better reflect current international standards.
Alongside the workshop, there were meetings of the SACU secretariat and the Member States with the EU HS-Africa Programme team to conclude future work plans for assistance under the EU HS-Africa Programme and other EU-WCO relevant initiatives.