Fees and Charges for Import/Export
Mozambique ratified the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (WTO TFA) in June 2017. As part of its efforts to implement the agreement, an analysis of its compliance with Article 6–Disciplines on Fees and Charges in Connection with Importation and Exportation was requested. Article 6 has two main commitments—publishing all fees and charges for purposes of transparency, and ensuring that fees do not exceed the costs of services in clearing imports and exports.
The scope of this study covers trade related services in connection with clearing imports and exports. It also includes transit, which has specific commitments under the TFA’s Article 11. The most relevant commitment for transit is that goods transiting through Mozambique should not be subject to fees and border management formalities.
Through field observations at ports of entry/exit and through stakeholder interviews our analysis found that Mozambique could improve its fees and charges disciplines, particularly:
- Fees should be set according to the cost of service rendered. For example, the customs processing fee is determined by the type of declaration used, which is dictated by the value of the good.
- Fees for revenue generation should be reviewed and eliminated or restructured. Some fees appear to be imposed for revenue generation as a certain percentage of fees are intended to be returned to the national treasury.
- Periodic reviews to reduce the number of fees should be done systematically. Some fees have not been reviewed in over 10 years.
- Transit goods are subject to fees and formalities. Goods transiting through Mozambique must currently pay a customs processing fee and are subject to document reviews.