Customs clearing agent licensing in Ethiopia

What the law says

Customs Proclamation No. 859/2014 was published in the Federal Negarit Gazette No. 82 on 9 December 2014 ¹. Article 2(18) defines a customs clearing agent as a person issued with a customs clearing agent licence under a regulation issued under the Proclamation ¹. The definition covers an employee of a declarant who holds a certificate of professional competence in customs clearance issued by the Authority ¹. The Proclamation defines the Authority as the Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority ¹.

Article 8(1) says a person entitled to dispose of goods may act as declarant and is entitled to be represented by a customs clearing agent ¹. Article 8(2) makes the declarant responsible for the completeness and accuracy of the declaration and for paying duties and taxes ¹.

The Customs Commission and Regulation 518/2022

Council of Ministers Regulation No. 437/2018 sets the powers, duties and organization of the Customs Commission. Its preamble says the Commission is already established by law ⁴.

Council of Ministers Regulation No. 518/2022 is a customs regulation issued under the Customs Proclamation ³. It amends or repeals the Customs Clearing Agents Regulation No. 108/2004 and the Customs Warehouse License Issuance Regulation No. 24/1997 ³. It defines a certificate of competence as a certificate issued by the Commission to a person who meets the requirements, and it refers to the human resources and office facilities needed by a customs clearing agent ³.

This page could not read the full text of Regulation 518/2022. Its licence conditions, fees, validity period and renewal rules are not confirmed here ³.

Renewal rules enforced in 2022

Addis Fortune reported on 19 February 2022 that the Customs Commission had temporarily suspended 482 clearing agents ⁵. The report said the move enforced a directive issued two years earlier, and that a little over 1,000 customs clearing agents were registered ⁵. The Commission called for renewals on 22 November 2021, and a little above 600 permits had been renewed ⁵.

As reported by Addis Fortune, the directive set these conditions for renewal ^5,6.

• An individual agent must work with at least one other professional, and a company must employ at least two ^5,6.
• Rental agreements must be authenticated by the Documents Authentication and Registration Service ^5,6.
• Agents must register with the Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration and hold a trade licence ^5,6.
• Agents could renew within a month after the deadline on payment of a penalty ⁵.

Response from agents

Addis Fortune reported on 30 April 2022 that close to 60 percent of about 1,000 agents met the January 2022 deadline ⁶. Agents whose permits were suspended had a three-month grace period before permanent revocation ^5,6.

The Ethiopian Customs Clearing Agents Professional Association, with over 350 members, asked the Commission to loosen the staffing rules, as reported by Addis Fortune ^5,6. The Addis Abeba Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations wrote to the Commission on behalf of 133 member agents and asked for six more months before revocation ⁶. Filagot Bedane, a legal advisor in the Commission's customs compliance division, told Addis Fortune that permits of agents who did not comply would be revoked permanently ⁶.