Closing the gaps in customs laws and regulations to boost trade capacity : will Uganda's ratification of the trade facilitation agreement offer the remedy?

Abstract

The last few years have witnessed countries making every effort to prioritise enhancement of international trade. While there has been great and significant success in those efforts, one major concern still prevails and that is the need to ensure efficient Customs management which presents an impediment to effective participation in international trade. Accordingly, the main supply constraint that has hampered Uganda?s participation in international trade has mainly been sloppy customs- related legislation which allows for inefficient, slow and unreliable customs clearance procedures. This mini-dissertation sets out to study the gaps in the law relating to customs management in Uganda as one of the major supply-side constraints limiting her the trade capacity and whether the ratification of Trade Facilitation Agreement under the WTO framework would open the space for enactment of appropriate laws or amendment of the existing ones with the main aim of closing the current gaps and ultimately up scaling Uganda?s trade capacity and unleashing her potential for international trade and economic growth.