By Mercy Matonga:
The Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) says the recently inaugurated Malawi- Zambia One-Stop Border Post (OSBP) has improved business operations.
This was disclosed by OSBP Station Manager Tapiwa Mzunga during a media tour organised by Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) to appreciate some of the Comesa projects at the facility.
Mzunga highlighted how the authority has benefited from Comesa-funded projects, such as the smart-gate yet to be operational.
She said Comesa’s contributions to the Mchinji OSBP include the provision of furniture, establishment of the Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) laboratory for goods screening and testing and capacity building workshops for cross-border traders.
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“Once in operation, the smart-gate is expected to greatly expedite trade procedures by obtaining traffic data via the Asycuda system, permitting efficient monitoring of goods clearance, and simplifying the retrieval of storage costs for goods that have overstayed at the border,” Mzunga said.
According to Comesa Research Fellow of Comesa Division of Trade and Customs Jane Kiribu, the facilities are intended to speed up trade procedures and cut down on time spent at borders, which will ultimately result in lower costs for customers.
“Fast clearances will help to reduce costs for business operators; the cost of staying here at the border will be reduced, and consumers will benefit because all costs incurred by traders are included when selling goods on the market,” Kiribu stated.
The Mchinji-Mwami OSBP was inaugurated on December 7, 2022, by Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera and his Zambian counterpart, Hakainde Hichilema, to improve trade integration between the two countries and the region.
