FFCU 101: CUSTOMS LAWS

1.0 Overview on customs laws of the East African

Community
1.1 Customs Laws under article 39 of the protocol
establishing EAC Customs Union.
1.2 Other Laws and regulations impacting clearing and
forwarding environment.
ARTICLE 39 OF THE EAC PROTOCOL
Customs Law of the Community

1. The customs law of the Community shall consist of:

(a) relevant provisions of the Treaty;
(b) this Protocol and its annexes;
(c) regulations and directives made by the Council;
(d)applicable decisions made by the Court;
(e) Acts of the Community enacted by the EAC Legislative Assembly;
and
(f) relevant principles of international laws.
2. The customs law of the Community shall apply
uniformly in the Customs Union except as otherwise
provided for in this Protocol.

3. The Partner States shall conclude such annexes to this

Protocol as shall be deemed necessary.
WHAT IT MEANS BY CUSTOMS LAWS

Customs law means such laws and regulations administered,

applied and enforced by the customs administration of each
Party concerning the importation, exportation, and
transit /transshipment of goods, as they relate to customs
duties, charges and other taxes, or to prohibitions,
restrictions and other similar controls with respect to the
movement of controlled items across the boundary of the
customs territory of each Party.
There fore the Customs laws of the Community means the
treaty, the protocol and Acts of the Community enacted by
the EAC Legislative Assembly; and relevant principles of
international law applied and enforced by the customs
administration
The Treaty means

The Treaty for the Establishment of the East African

Community was signed in Arusha on 30 November 1999.
The Treaty entered into force on 7 July 2000
Relevant provisions of the Treaty that
impact on import /exports
Article 1
On interpretation
"common external tariff" means an identical rate of
tariff imposed on goods imported from foreign
countries;
"community goods" means goods originating from
the Community;
 "duty drawback" means a refund of all or part of any excise or
import duty paid in respect of goods confirmed to have been
exported or used in a manner or for a purpose prescribed as a
condition for granting duty drawback.
 "import" with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions
means to bring or cause to be brought into the territories of the
Partner States from a foreign country;
THE PROTOCOL IS A CUSTOMS LAW OF
THE COMMUNITY

AT PART A Article 1 On interpretation we find among others

the following;
"common external tariff" means an identical rate of tariff
imposed on goods imported from foreign countries;
"community goods" means goods originating from the
Community;
"customs area" means that area licenced by a
competent authority for purposes of specific
customs operations;
"customs and excise authority" means a body or an
institution designated as such by a Government of
a Partner State;
 Customs duties" means import or export duties and other
charges of equivalent effect levied on goods by reason of
their importation or exportation, respectively, on the basis of
legislation in the Partner States and includes fiscal duties or
taxes where such duties or taxes affect the importation or
exportation of goods
 "customsoffence" means any breach or attempted breach
of customs law;
 "customsterritory" means the geographical area of the
Republic of Uganda, the Republic of Kenya and the United
Republic of Tanzania and any other country granted
membership of the Community under Article 3 of the
Treaty;
 "duty" means any duty leviable under any customs law and includes
surtax;
 "dutydrawback" means a refund of all or part of any excise or
import duty paid in respect of goods confirmed to have been
exported or used in a manner or for a purpose prescribed as a
condition for granting duty drawback;
 "excise
duty" means a non-discriminative duty imposed by
a Partner State on locally produced or similar imported
goods;
 “export”with its grammatical variations and cognate
expressions means to take or cause goods to be taken out
of the customs territory
 "goods
in transit" means goods being conveyed through the
customs territory to a foreign country;
 "import"with its grammatical variations and cognate
expressions means to bring or cause goods to be brought
into the customs territory;
 "customsterritory" means the geographical area of the
Republic of Uganda, the Republic of Kenya and the United
Republic of Tanzania and any other country granted
membership of the Community under Article 3 of the Treaty;
 "importduties" means customs duties and
other charges of equivalent effect levied on
goods by reason of their importation;
 "imported
goods" means goods other than
Community goods;
SOME ACTS BY THE EAC ASSEMBLY

1. EAST AFRICAN
COMMUNITY CUSTOMS
MANAGEMENT ACT, 2004 (REVISED EDITION
2019)-
ITS PURPOSE- An Act of the Community
to make provisions for the management
and administration of Customs and for
related matters.
OTHER

a. The East African Competition Act, 2006 -13 November

2006
b. East African Community Standardisation, Quality
Assurance, Metrology and Testing Act, 2006 -10 September
2006
c. East African Community One Stop Border Posts Act, 2016 -
15 April 2016
d. EAC Standardisation, Quality Assurance, Metrology and
The EAC protocol
 Protocol
On The Establishment Of The East
African Customs Union.
Assignment-Please identify the purpose of each of the above
said four Community laws
 customs law means the statutory and regulatory
provisions relating to the. importation, exportation,
movement or storage of goods, the. administration or
enforcement of which are specifically charged to the.
customs administration, and any regulations made by the
customs.