Kenya finished introducing its Integrated Customs Management System, a new cargo clearing system and a “key milestone” in the country’s customs procedures, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council said in an Aug. 27 report. The new system includes new “automated valuation benchmarking, automated release of green-channel cargo, importer validation and declaration” and a link to the country’s online tax system, the HKTDC said. The system requires exporters to Kenya to submit “import declaration forms, sea manifests/BAPLIE/IAR, security bonds, cargo declarations, and any exemptions,” the report said. The first shipment using the new system at the Port of Mombasa occurred on Aug. 10. Some importers complained “of teething problems and lack of support for the new system,” the HKTDC said, and have stopped importing because of problems. Kenya acknowledged the problems and said it will not penalize importers for failing to submit the proper documents during “their first interactions with the system,” the report said.

Companies trading with the United Arab Emirates will not longer pay a 1 percent fee when seeking a refund for paid security deposits for the “value of temporarily imported goods,” according to an Aug. 22 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. The UAE will only impose a fee about US$13.60 for re-exports regardless of the value of the goods, the report said. The change is part of the country’s efforts to promote Abu Dhabi as a “leading regional and international hub for commerce and industry,” the HKTDC said.

The Pakistan Single Window is set improve trade and reduce customs clearance times, Pakistan’s Federal Board of Revenue said in an Aug. 21 press release. The single window aims to “bring together all the stakeholders on one single platform” to improve trade into and out of the country, in line with best practices under the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement. Pakistan Customs official Jawwad Owais Agha said the window is “the most significant cross border trade facilitation initiative” Pakistan has undertaken. Pakistan held a “stakeholders’ workshop” Aug. 19 on the single window coordinated with the U.S. Agency for International Development, Pakistan said. The stakeholders included industry representatives, government officials, trade bodies and business associations, Pakistan said.

Tariff negotiations among members of the new African Continental Free Trade Agreement are scheduled to conclude by January 2020, with duty reductions under the agreement to take effect in July next year, according to a report in the Namibian newspaper New Era. Signatories of the agreement, which entered into force at the end of May, have agreed that 90 percent of tariffs will be eliminated, while another 7 percent may be designated as sensitive and 3 percent may be excluded from liberalization. Namibian International Relations and Cooperation Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah told New Era that negotiations on tariff reductions on the sensitive list are due to the African Union Commission for approval in January. “She noted that trading and tariff dismantling under the AfCFTA is to commence in July 2020, and member states are expected to conclude outstanding rules of origin negotiation,” the report said.

The U.S. intends to cooperate on the development of the African Continental Free Trade Area, according to a joint statement signed by the African Union and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on Aug. 5. "The United States and the African Union intend to jointly identify subject areas related to the ongoing negotiation and implementation of the AfCFTA as subjects for cooperation and for possible technical assistance and capacity building," they said. The U.S. wants to go beyond the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which is scheduled to expire in 2025, the statement said.

The United Arab Emirates is eliminating and reducing government fees on more than 1,500 federal services, including some in the trade sector, according to a press release from the UAE’s Ministry of Finance and a July 22 report from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. The UAE said it has agreed to cut some fees in half to make it cheaper to do business in the country and boost the UAE’s competitiveness. While the fee reductions span across the ministries of the Interior, the Economy, and Human Resources and Emiratisation, the HKTDC said the changes will have a “direct impact” on foreign trade. One change includes a reduced fee for lodging a dispute between “agents, appointed representatives and collectors from a trade agent” from about $3,200 to $2,200, the report said. The changes are expected to decrease the cost of trading to the UAE, the HKTDC said, and were expected to be introduced before July ends.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is backing Huawei, the Economic and Commercial Counsellor’s Office of the Chinese Embassy in the United Arab Emirates said in a July 11 press release. The press release included comments from Arthur Goldstuck of World Wide Worx, a South African market research company, who said the country has reaffirmed its commitment to buying from the Chinese tech giant. “It's very clear that Huawei has the full support of (our) government,” Goldstuck said, adding the company plays a “key role” in the South African market. He also pointed to lack of "home-grown technologies" that can ramp up quickly to 5G, so Huawei has a role to fill in the South African “engagement with the so-called 4th industrial revolution," he said.

The African Continental Free Trade Area officially went into "operational phase" on July 7 after an African Union summit meeting in Niamey, Niger, the African Union said in a July 7 news release. "The AfCFTA will be governed by five operational instruments, i.e. the Rules of Origin; the online negotiating forum; the monitoring and elimination of non-tariff barriers; a digital payments system and the African Trade Observatory," the AU said. Actual trading with reduced tariffs among the 54 member states under the AfCFTA isn't expected to begin until July 2020.

The U.S. and Tunisia signed a Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement meant to help prevent and detect customs violations, CBP said in a July 2 news release. Such agreements "allow for the exchange of information that is vital to our national and economic security,” Deputy CBP Commissioner Robert Perez said. "We value our partnership with Tunisia in pursuing our mutual goals of stronger law enforcement and a more resilient and secure supply chain. These agreements form sound legal frameworks on a wide range of issues, including securing our borders against terrorists and combatting drug traffickers. This collaboration and cooperation will enable us -- and generations after us -- to work more effectively to prevent, detect, and investigate customs offenses.” The U.S. now has CMAAs with 81 countries, it said.

Kenya is considering several tax- and trade-related measures that would impact imports and certain aspects of the country’s value-added tax regulations, according to a June 17 report from KPMG. The measures, included in Kenya’s 2019 budget proposal, would expand the definition of “supply of imported services” to apply to people who are not registered for VAT, the report said, and would expand the scope of VATs to include goods “made through the digital marketplace.” The measures would also change the “timing of the supply of imported goods” to include “the time the goods are removed from a special economic zone,” KPMG said. In addition, the measures would reduce the rate of the VAT withholding from 6 percent to 2 percent and increase the excise tax rate on alcohol and tobacco products. Lastly, the measures would allow tax exemptions for equipment used for the development of “solar and wind energy” and allow VAT exemptions for motherboards and “related components” made in Kenya and “services and machinery related to plastic recycling.”