Govt approves major changes in import customs duties rates – Mozambique

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Govt approves major changes in import customs duties rates – Mozambique

11:26 CAT | 20 Sep 2017

File photo / Cabinet spokesperson, deputy Minister of Tourism and Culture Ana Comoana

The Mozambican government yesterday approved a proposal to amend the excise duty and set new rates on the importation of alcoholic beverages, luxury products and still on other products.

The proposal, to be submitted to the Assembly of the Republic was approved during the 33rd ordinary session of the Council of Ministers held yesterday in Maputo.

Last December, country’s parliament approved the current ICE by consensus, including the Customs Tariff and the respective Preliminary Instructions.

Speaking to the press at the end of the session, government spokeswoman Ana Comoana said that in addition to stimulating new investments, the proposed revision of the ICE and the Customs Tariff should encourage the emergence of new industries as well as encourage the consumption of raw materials.

“Therefore, the proposal foresees, in some cases, the worsening of the rates and, in others, their reduction in the importation of certain goods,” the also deputy minister of Culture and Tourism said.

In the case of ICE, Comoana said that the rates on the import of vehicles more than seven years old would be raised and that on new cars reduced.

Also Read: New Tariff: No customs reduction on imported vehicles – Mozambican Tax Authority

In order setting rates for alcoholic beverages, authorities would consider the degree of alcoholic content.

“Therefore, they [rates] will vary according to certain specific criteria regarding these aspects,” she explained.

An official document handed out at the press briefing indicated that the rate for Portland cement imports would rise from 10.5 to 20 per cent, while that for goods used by the printing industry would fall from 20 to 7.5 percent.

The document eliminates the exemption on frozen horse mackerel import from tax, which will attract 20 per cent once the measure comes into force.

The measure also introduces surcharges on the import of aluminium wires, strings and uninsulated cables by 10 percent, as well as on used clothing, which will attract 25 meticais per kilogram (one dollar equals 61 meticais at current exchange rates).

In order to prepare the Customs Tariff currently in force, the government audited the business, agrarian and commercial sectors of the country, including the informal sector Association of Sellers and Importers/Exporters (Mukhero).

Also Read: Mozambique: General rules for customs clearing of goods

Universal Access to Telecommunications Service Fund approved

In another development, the government approved the Universal Access to Telecommunications Service Fund regulation, which will establish tariffs where universal access service projects are implemented.

The fund, a public asset under the management of the National Telecommunications Institute of Mozambique (INCM), aims to establish a universal service allowing all Mozambicans to be directly connected to the public telecommunications network and its services. Tariffs are to be set at around 20 percent less than commercial rates.

At the same meeting, the cabinet ratified Mozambique’s accession to the 1973 Vienna Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks, and the country’s adherence to the Banjul Protocol on Trade Marks, established in November 1993, was also ratified.

Source: AIM Moçambique