The Commissioner General of the Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA), Yankuba Darboe, has expressed total appreciation with efforts made by the Government of The Gambia in ensuring that the country accedes to the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC).
CG Darboe described the Government's accession to the Revised Kyoto Convention as a "good development for The Gambia".
The GRA Commissioner General commended the government shortly after his return from attending the World Customs Organisation (WCO) Council meeting in Brussels.
The RKC, introduced in the 1970s, is a key international instrument on Simplified and Harmonized Customs Procedures adopted by the council in May 1973 and entered into force on 25 September 1974. The adoption took place in Kyoto, Japan and by 1994, it had included 62 contracting parties.
According to CG Darboe, the Protocol of Amendment was adopted by the council in June 1999 in Brussels. "The RKC is a blueprint for modern, efficient and effective customs procedures in the 21st century," Mr Darboe said, adding that as of June 2022, the RKC had a total of 133 contracting parties.
Mr Darboe reiterated the importance attached to the RKC, saying it is an international agreement that provides asset of comprehensive customs procedures to facilitate legitimate international trade while effecting customs contracts including the protection of customs revenue and society.
"It deals with key principles of Simplified and Harmonized Customs Procedures, such as predictability, transparency, due process, maximum use of information technology and modern customs techniques, such as risk management pre-arrival information and post-clearance audit," he said, adding that the WCO had estimated that the RKC contracting parties cover at least 70 per cent of the value of globally traded foods.
According to Mr Darboe, the WCO had encouraged its members to accede to the RKC, believing that more benefits would accrue as a result of early RKC implementation by more economies in a coordinated way, quoting the Swedish National Board of Trade, 2008.
Therefore, he said, it had been widely recognised that a paper should be developed on the benefits of the RKC as a means of facilitating the national accessions processes of non-contracting parties.
He further stated that the arguments on RKC benefits are referred to in many documents produced by the WCO and other organizations, including the WCO leaflet (WCO) 2002), the APEC Guidebook to the RKC APEC, 2003), and a booklet on the RKC by Jordan Customs Younis, 2006).
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"In addition, the benefits of the Simplified and Harmonized Customs Procedures embodied by the RKC have been well documented in the context of trade facilitation in particular in the ongoing WTO negotiations on trade facilitation stated by the Swedish National Board of Trade 2008," he explained.
Furthermore, he noted, many customs reform and modernisation programs had been designed to introduce modern customs procedures in accordance with the RKC according to IMF 2003 and World Bank, 2005 reports.
"It has been recognised on many occasions that there are considerable benefits to be derived from RKC accession as well as implementation," he stated.
Mr Darboe also disclosed that now that the Gambia Government had acceded to the RKC as an international convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures, the country had thereby accepted all the specific annexes and chapters thereto and would undertake to perform and carry out faithfully the stipulation contained therein.
CG Darboe further cited Article 3 of the Protocol of Amendment to the International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Protocols, adding that "any contracting party which has not signed the Revised Kyoto Convention may accede to it by depositing an Instrument of Accession with the Depository".
Concluding he stated: "Going forward, this Instrument of Accession is signed and sealed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Republic of The Gambia."
