Customs Procedures
Senior 3 · Entrepreneurship
Customs Procedures
Lesson 1 of 4
23 min
Two traders in Musanze each receive a lorry-load of sofas on the same day. Mugisha’s sofas were made in a factory in Kenya; Ingabire’s were made in a factory in Asia. Both lorries stop at customs. Mugisha shows a certificate proving that his sofas were made in the East African Community (EAC), and pays no import duty on them. Ingabire’s sofas come from outside the EAC, so they face the EAC’s top import-duty rate of 35%, a rate that applies to furniture. Both traders still pay the other taxes due on imports, such as VAT.
Same goods, same day, same town, but different treatment at the border. In Senior 2 you met the EAC customs union and its common external tariff. This unit looks at the procedures behind it: what traders must declare, which papers they need, the steps from border to shop, and who is involved. The traders are illustrative.
Definition
Customs: the government service that controls goods entering and leaving a country, collects the duties and taxes due on them and enforces trade laws. In Rwanda it is the Customs Services Department of the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA).
Customs duty (tariff): a tax charged on goods when they cross a border, mainly on imports.
Customs territory: the area within which goods move without customs duties. Since the EAC customs union, its partner states form one customs territory with one common external tariff.
Example: soap made in Uganda enters Rwanda without import duty; soap made outside the EAC pays the common external tariff.
EAC partner states charge the same import duty on goods from outside the Community. Since 1 July 2022 the common external tariff (CET) has had four bands:
| Band | Applies mainly to |
|---|---|
| 0% | raw materials and capital goods (machines and equipment for production) |
| 10% | intermediate goods: inputs that are partly processed |
| 25% | finished goods |
| 35% | finished goods that the EAC considers it can produce enough of, such as dairy and meat products, textiles and garments, furniture, edible oils and beverages |
The low bands keep the inputs of local producers cheap; the high bands protect local producers of finished goods from imports. Goods that originate in the EAC and carry a certificate of origin pay no import duty when they move between partner states.
Definition
Customs declaration: the official statement, made to customs on a set form or electronic system, that gives the details of goods being imported, exported or moved: what they are, their quantity, value, origin and the customs procedure chosen.
Customs procedure (customs regime): the treatment that customs gives to goods according to what will happen to them, such as import for home use, export or transit.
Declarant: the person who makes the declaration: the owner of the goods or a licensed customs clearing agent acting for the owner.
The type of declaration depends on what will happen to the goods.
| Declaration | Used when | Duties and taxes |
|---|---|---|
| Import for home use | goods will be used or sold in Rwanda | paid before the goods are released |
| Export | goods leave Rwanda for sale or use abroad | usually no duty on exports |
| Transit | goods pass through Rwanda on their way to another country | not paid in Rwanda if the goods leave; a guarantee (bond) covers them until they exit |
| Warehousing | goods are stored in a bonded warehouse under customs control | paid only when the goods leave the warehouse for home use |
| Temporary importation | goods enter for a limited time and will be taken out again, such as equipment for an exhibition | suspended under a guarantee, if the goods go back out in time |
| Re-export | imported goods are sent out of the country again | depends on how they entered; transit and warehoused goods leave duty-free |
Declarations also differ in form. A regular declaration is lodged electronically by a licensed clearing agent; RRA requires an agent for goods valued above Frw 500,000. A simplified declaration is used by small-scale cross-border traders: under the Simplified Trade Regime, consignments worth up to US$2,000 can be declared with fewer details, without an agent or a taxpayer identification number (TIN). A pre-arrival declaration is lodged before the goods arrive, so that clearance can start early.
Tip
Memory hook: follow the goods. Ask “Where will these goods end up?” In Rwanda: home use. In Rwanda later: warehousing. Across Rwanda to a neighbour: transit. In Rwanda for a while: temporary importation. Out of Rwanda: export or re-export.
Worked example 1: choosing the declaration
| Situation | Declaration | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| A lorry carries rice from the port of Dar es Salaam through Rwanda to Goma in the DRC. | transit | the rice only passes through Rwanda |
| A hardware shop in Huye imports roofing nails to sell. | import for home use | the nails will be sold in Rwanda |
| A film crew brings cameras for a two-week shoot and takes them home. | temporary importation | the cameras enter for a limited time |
| A cooperative sends dried chillies to buyers in Europe. | export | the goods leave Rwanda for sale abroad |
| An importer stores machine parts in a bonded warehouse until a buyer is found. | warehousing | duties are paid only when the parts leave for home use |
The businesses are illustrative.
Worked example 2: which declaration form?
Three traders cross at Rubavu. (a) Ange brings in beans grown in the DRC, worth US$350, from Goma. (b) Kalisa imports a consignment of electronics worth Frw 9 million. (c) A factory expects a machine to arrive by ship next month.
(a) US$350 is below the US$2,000 limit of the Simplified Trade Regime, so she can use a simplified declaration at the border without an agent. (b) Frw 9 million is above Frw 500,000, so a regular declaration must be lodged by a licensed clearing agent. (c) The factory’s agent can lodge a pre-arrival declaration before the ship docks, so that clearance can begin early.
Note: the simplified regime covers only goods that originate in the partner state and appear on the list agreed between the two countries. The traders are illustrative.
Warning
Common mistakes. (1) Saying that goods from EAC partner states never pay anything: they are free of import duty only if they originate in the EAC, and taxes such as VAT are still due. (2) Confusing transit with import: transit goods must leave the country, under a bond. (3) Thinking that customs only collects money: it also stops prohibited goods and records trade (lesson 2).
Practice
Sources and credits
Written by Ganzaa: the decision tree, the tables, the worked examples and the practice items. The traders and businesses are illustrative (2026).
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
