The Federation of East African Freight Forwarders Associations (FEAFFA) is working with her member National Associations of Customs Clearing and Forwarding Agents in East Africa for domestication of the regional Model Customs Agents and Freight Forwarding Management Bill. These bills provide a framework for the coordination, training, and self-regulation of customs agents and freight forwarders.
The bills also aim to enhance and promote professionalism and standards of practice and reduce unethical behavior in the industry through the registration and professional licensing of all customs agents and freight forwarders operating along the logistics value chain.
The importance and benefits of the self-regulation bill include:
- Enhance compliance with existing regulations for quality service delivery by introducing the professional code of ethics.
- Supplement government regulations by filling up regulatory gaps.
- Eliminate rogue agents through member registration and the creation of a database of professional practitioners.
- Protect shippers, consumers of customs clearing and freight forwarding services, and customs agents and freight forwarders by redefining the existing liability clauses.
- Enhance understanding of clearing and forwarding processes through the introduction of mandatory training, including the introduction of continuing professional development (CPD) modules.
- Have a well-monitored and effective approach to all activities as will be coordinated by society.
- Standardization of the industry through the implementation of standard trading conditions
- Enhance ties with other regional national customs authorities for increased trade.
- Conserve government resources spent on dispute resolution by setting up an internal dispute resolution mechanism under the law.
- Enhance revenue collection by the revenue authority through efficient clearing of goods.
- Lower the cost of doing business through overall industry compliance and professionalism.
This will be achieved by:
- Establishing a society to govern the operations of customs agents and freight forwarders The society will have a regulatory board to oversee certification and registration, a professional code of ethics, and disciplinary proceedings.
- Making the professional licensing of individual practitioners and licensing by the Revenue Authorities mandatory for each customs agent and freight forwarder
- Making it mandatory for each customs agent and a freight forwarder to undergo standardized industry training to equip them with the necessary knowledge and skills to use modern technology and to apply the clearing process and regulations This will include mandatory training under the continuing professional development program currently being introduced to the industry to ensure knowledge of emerging trends and changes in the sector.
- Stating the compliance requirements and code of conduct for each industry participant, where this is not currently stipulated under EACCMA 2004 and the 2010 regulations
- Establishing penalties for non-compliance across all relevant regulations, from customs agents’ errors to transport companies’ breaches of load weight rules,
- Stating each participant’s liability across the value chain, such that it is no longer the case that the customs agents or freight forwarders bear all liability
- Making standard trading conditions mandatory between customs agents and the importers, transporters, warehousing companies, and shipping companies to avoid any party suffering unnecessarily
- Stating the customs agents’ minimum and standard fees to ensure shipping companies are not exploited through overcharging, customs agents are not exploited through underpayments or undercutting, and guaranteeing that the government collects its due income tax revenues from the clearing agents
- Ensuring the government is involved in the formulation of industry policy by recommending it is represented on the proposed sector board This has not been the case previously, leaving both the private sector and the government in a battle for supremacy when it comes to imposing laws and regulations.
- Promoting the role of women in the sector by recommending that at least one-third of the council’s and registration board’s members are women to address women’s current underrepresentation.
