Published on 28/05/2025
Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has announced that certain exempt importations will no longer require pre-approval from the office of the Commissioner Customs to cut on the delays.
“URA informs all taxpayers that in a bid to improve efficiency by reducing turnaround time, the following categories of exemptions will no longer require any form of pre-approval by office of the Commissioner Customs effective Monday, June 02, 2025,” the tax body stated in a public notice issued this Tuesday.
Under the new guidelines, importers and licensed customs agents handling the specified categories of goods can now proceed directly to declare them in the ASYCUDA Customs clearance system.
Supporting documentation will be required to justify the exemptions, and the Document Processing Centre (DPC) will validate and process the declarations in line with the East African Community Customs Management Act (EACCMA).
The exempted categories and their corresponding Additional Procedure Codes (APCs) are as follows:
1. Chemically defined compounds used as fertilizers (Paragraph 11, Part B – APC 472)
2. Diagnostic reagents, equipment and blood collection tubes (Paragraph 14, Part B – APC 472)
3. Poultry parent stock and fertilised eggs for incubation for poultry farmers (Paragraph 15(b), Part B – APC 472)
4. Hotel operational equipment (Paragraph 21, Part B – APC 472)
5. Hospital goods (Paragraph 28, Part B – APC 472)
6. Industrial spare parts (Paragraph 31, Part B – APC 492)
“This reform reflects URA’s continued efforts to streamline trade procedures and improve the business environment by eliminating bureaucratic bottlenecks,” said Musa Atugonza, a poultry industry expert in Kampala.
