URA accredits 24 new firms to the Authorised Economic Operators programme

Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has accredited 24 new companies to the Authorised Economic Operators (AEO) programme, an initiative which will promote certainty in international business and strengthen the supply chain security.

This was during an event that took place at Speke Resort Munyonyo on Friday. According to the authority, this brings the current accredited companies to 118 operators.

 AEO is a strategic outlook to reward those clients that have partnered with the tax body to secure the international trade supply chain through voluntary compliance.

It strengthens collaboration between government agencies and the private sector to facilitate legitimate trade, which in turn boosts the country’s revenue, which is a crucial driver to Uganda’s economic independence according to the authority.

Considering the growing trade in contrast with the resources available to URA, John Musinguzi, URA commissioner general, said the AEO programme is one of the tools used to optimise resource utilisation.

"URA adopted the AEO programme and implemented it in line with its mission and vision, which emphasise voluntary compliance that will ultimately lead to the transformation of Uganda’s economy," he said.

Musinguzi said the 118 AEOs are responsible for more than 41% of the volumes of the country’s international trade operations.

This means that over 41% of the supply chain operations are handled by low-risk and reliable operators who benefit from managing themselves under the programme.

For the financial year 2021/22, AEOs contributed Shs 4 trillion which was approximately 42% of the total customs revenue which amounted to Shs 8.4 trillion.

"Overall, the programme has significantly reduced clearance times and tremendously reduced the cost of doing business for both URA and our clients. Our dream is to have 80% of Customs taxes cleared by AEOs hence reducing the cost of our operations," said Musinguzi.

Humphrey Asiimwe, the chairperson of the interim committee of the AEO association, said they have come up with a list of 28 benefits that they are trying to negotiate with URA to extend to them as AEOs in order to further enable seamless trade.

"We are also making moves to come together as AEO's across the region, not just in Uganda," Asiimwe said.