Botswana Trade Centre (BOTC) and Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS) last week announced a partnership which will see the two organisations working together in areas of information-sharing among others.
BOTC was established through the Botswana Trade Commission Act 2013 to domesticate the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) Agreement of 2002, in particular Article 14.
The Article requires each member state to establish independent and dedicated national bodies entrusted with receiving requests for tariff changes and other related SACU issues.
The BOTC Act specifically mandates the Commission to carry out functions such investigating and determining the impact of tariffs in Botswana and provide written recommendations regarding tariff changes to the SACU Tariff Board for onward decision-making by the SACU Council.
BOTC Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Shirely Moncho, said the two parties have agreed to work together after realising the need to collaborate pursuant to their respective statutory mandates.
“The relationship is such that BOTC recommends tariff changes through the SACU Tariff Board and SACU Council and BURS implements the changes,” said Moncho.
BURS Commissioner General, Jeanette Makgolo, said in the context of the agreement, BOTC plays the critical role of regulating the importation and exportation of goods in Botswana.
On the other hand, she said BURS is the competent authority in terms of the facilitation, control of importation and exportation of goods in Botswana, which includes prohibition of illicit trade.
“It is worth noting that on average BURS processes imports to the value of P70 billion and exports of P60 billion annually, which is the worth and volume of imports and exports that BOTC regulates,” disclosed Makgolo.
She said in the course of duty, BURS holds strategic information that may inform critical policy decisions for the regulator.
“It is, therefore, in view of this symbiotic relationship, that BURS and BOTC have found it befitting to collaboratively enter into this Memorandum of Agreement (MoU),” said Makgolo.