TRA now for electronic cargo tracking system

The Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) is set to start using an Electronic Cargo Tracking System (ECTS) to replace the current T-scanning system with a view to controlling loss and theft of transit goods.

Speaking to journalists yesterday in Dar es Salaam at a seminar on Customs

Improvement Activities, TRA Assistant Commissioner for Organizational and Risk Management Bellium Silaa said the new system, to start operating from March next year, would eliminate accumulation of cargo at ports.

“We expect that the ECTS will help the government to collect its revenues on goods on time before their export to neighbouring countries” he noted.

He said that the system will also work in accordance with international clearing and forwarding laws which do not allow goods to be charged before they reach their final destination.

Silaa added that TRA had bought four baggage scanners which were being used to improve custom activities, saying two of the scanners were installed at Julius Kambarage International Airport, one at Kilimanjaro International Airport and another in Zanzibar.

He said that initially TRA had signed a memorandum of understanding with Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA) and Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) as a pilot project with regard to the security of imports and exports.

For his part, TRA manager for Modernization James Mbunda said that the Customs and Excise Department was implementing a four-year modernization strategy and action plan 2009/10 to 2012/13 with a view to facilitating trade and reducing clearance times of imports.

“Due to the modernization strategies and action plans, the operations at Dar es Salaam port have improved such that clearance of goods has been reduced to 10 days compared to last 15 days last year,” he said.