Factors Affecting the Customs Clearance of Pharmaceuticals at Bole Airport: The Case of Private Importers in Addis Ababa
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Date
2020-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Ethiopia’s international trade is regulated by the Ethiopian Customs Commission (ECC) and
other governmental authorities, namely, the Ethiopian Food and Drug Authority (EFDA) that
regulate import & export of drugs, medical supplies or instruments. The custom-clearance
process is mandatory for the efficient functioning of the pharmaceutical supply chain program.
All around the globe, clearing pharmaceutical shipments from the port of entry is incompetent
and time-consuming activity that leads to financial losses due to higher storage fees and damage
to the goods. Though a lot of studies done in Ethiopia on factors that contribute to the delay of
customs clearance of pharmaceuticals, this particular study was done focusing on some of the
factors in ECC bole branch office, namely, lack of collaboration, complying with documentary
requirements, inadequate and incompetent officers and problem in product classification and
goods valuation. The study employed cross-sectional study and qualitative study in 164 private
pharmaceutical importers in Addis Ababa. Both quantitative and qualitative data collection
methods were used in the study. The quantitative data were collected using structured
questionnaires and analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. And the qualitative data were collected
through document review. The research finding reveals that there is customs clearance delay in
clearing pharmaceuticals from Bole Airport and lack of collaboration between the customs office
being the most important factor. The following recommendations have been forwarded the
authority should implement coordinated intervention, the customs office should provide
continuous training to its officers, the authority should hire more skilled manpower to alleviate
the shortage of customs officers, the authority should implement a fully automated and a single
window service, the authority should implement post release auditing, importers should be loyal
in submitting the true transaction value and certificate of origin and importers should prepare
the required complete documents before the shipment arrives.
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Keywords
Custom clearance., Lack of collaboration, Documentary requirement, Goods Valuation, Duplicated effort