(Business in Cameroon) - Cameroonian customs authorities announce that they will soon introduce a feature to their IT platform Cosmos to help identify cars being used without clearance.
"A customs/Ministry of Transport (Mintransport) collaborative platform is currently being developed. The aim is to help Mintransport agents ensure that vehicles are cleared before seeking registration. Shortly, both the customs and the Ministry of Transport’s developers will create an application that will block the registration procedures of all uncleared vehicles," the customs administration informs.
Meanwhile, the customs administration informs that between February 24 and 25, 2021, eight uncleared vehicles were seized in Yaounde, thanks to Cosmos. According to the administration, the IT platform is "a major technological reinforcement in the fight against cars and other rolling stocks smuggling."
Customs authorities explain that thanks to the IT platform, they only need to input the vehicle’s identification number to know whether it has been cleared or not. "Many vehicles are registered but not cleared. However, they should normally go through customs clearance before being registered," it adds.
Currently, there is no precise estimate of the number of vehicles that seek registration without going through customs clearance procedures. There is even no estimate of the revenue shortfall for customs administrations. However, customs authorities believe that identifying those vehicles already being used without being cleared will boost customs revenues. This is all the more crucial because the customs revenue collection target set by the 2021 finance act is XAF804 billion.
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