Zambia and Botswana make progress in Customs Systems Connectivity and Data Exchange

In support of the bilateral initiative to establish real time exchange of Customs data for effective decision making, the Sida-WCO TFCM Programme has conducted a four-day joint workshop for officials from both Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) and Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS) to progress towards completion of the harmonization and standardization of Customs systems interconnectivity and data exchange between the two administrations. The workshop, which took place from 26th to 29th April 2022 in Livingstone, Zambia, enabled the ZRA and BURS officials to jointly progress towards a bilateral framework for data exchange based on the Globally Networked Customs (GNC), and application of the WCO Data Model and Unique Consignment Reference (UCR) number.

Over the course of the four-day working sessions, the ZRA and BURS officials were able to finalized the tasks on the harmonization and standardization of data elements using the WCO Data model application (DM App), tested the User Acceptance (UAT) of the technical and administrative aspects of the Data Exchange Framework, and mutually agreed on modification to the draft Memorandum of Understanding for data exchange.

The programme further supported the change management efforts required in Zambia by conducting awareness session on the UCR for approximately 70 stakeholders at the Kazungula One Stop Border Post, including Customs officers and Customs Brokers.

As a result of the progress achieved from the workshop, ZRA is ready to launch the bilateral exchange of Customs with BURS on 16th May 2022. Both Customs administrations are committed to moving forward with improving the connectivity between their countries in order to align their efforts with the SADC regional objectives for Customs data exchange. The Sida-WCO TFCM Programme will continue to provide support towards the broader roll-out of Customs connectivity using in the SADC region, WCO tools and instruments.

For more information on the Sida-WCO TFCM Programme, kindly contact: [email protected]