By HELEN ZULU –
THE Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) has assured Zambian freight forwarders that it will work with government to see how they can be facilitated to participate more robustly in regional trade.

. Ngwenya

COMESA secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya said this was to ensure that there were no losers in the implementation of the innovative technologies designed to unleash the immense potential in intra-regional trade.
Recently, clearing and forwarding companies in Zambia lobbied the government against implementing the Regional Customs Transit Guarantee (RCTG) on the ground that it would lead to loss of business.
The agents contended that the issuance of customs bond would eliminate the need for clearance of transit cargo at the border points where they derived their livelihood.
But Mr Ngwenya said the regional bond provided immense business opportunities to the freight forwarding industry to participate more meaningfully in the regional trade.
This is contained in a statement released in Lusaka by COMESA Secretariat Head of Corporate Communications Mwangi Gakunga.
“I want to assure you that COMESA will work with the government to see how small-scale freight forwards can be facilitated to participate more robustly in regional trade,” Mr Ngwenya said.
He said the introduction of the RCTG provided an opportunity for the freight forwarding industry in the country to participate more meaningfully in regional trade.
The RCTG is a customs transit regime designed to facilitate the movement of goods under customs seals in the COMESA region and to provide the required customs security and guarantee to the transit countries.
The RCTG is part of a toolkit of innovative trade facilitation instruments developed by COMESA over the years in line with the Protocol on Transit Trade and Transit Facilities provided in the COMESA Treaty.
COMESA member states agreed to introduce RCTG to address the difficulties experienced by transport operators, freight forwarders and clearing agents.
“At the moment, the clearing and forwarding companies in this country take up only 15 per cent of transit traffic and transit trade.
“With the introduction of the RCTG, you have the opportunity to issue the bond for both export and import cargo to all countries participating in the scheme,” Mr Ngwenya said.