By William Madouk
South Sudan Revenue Authority (SSRA) has issued a stern warning against smuggling of sensitive goods.
According to the Institution, the contentious goods pass through cargo mislabeling and use of fraudulent bank receipts.
SSRA Commissioner-General Simon Akuei Deng revealed that prevalence of the practices, are contributing to revenue leakage.
“I want to warn you, issues of smuggling! Yesterday, I wrote a letter for your information, because Uganda is complaining that most of the goods are also dumped in the region, within Uganda,” he said.
Commissioner-General Akuei explained that, as a result of rampant mislabeling, the SSRA has implemented a policy requiring customs duties on “sensitive goods” to be paid in the country of origin.
“Custom duty has to be paid before reaching Nimule, cigarettes, alcohol, some of the construction materials, cosmetics, shisha, whatever it is. They have to be paid before they leave the industries,” he echoed.
He cited daily instances of trucks being impounded, such as those carrying tobacco and cigarettes mislabeled as soda and maize flour, respectively.
“The reason being, every day, even last night [Friday], our officers are arresting trucks for fuel, and trucks that are full of tobacco, or cigarettes. And it is because they are facilitated by us – you being the lead as a clearing agent. I have had documents in my office, where a cigarette truck is cleared as maize flour, a whiskey truck is cleared as soda,” he added.
Akuei, speaking at the first presidential inauguration of the South Sudan Freight Forwarders Association (SSFFA), declared smuggling a vice that must stop immediately.
He clarified that “sensitive goods” are heavily taxed due to their harmful nature.
“I would rather clear goods that are beneficial to our population but the ones that are harmful, they are raised,” he stated. “Even this act makes [tax] it very low but the next act will raise cigarettes, I have to tell you – all the harmful goods, sensitive goods, need to be controlled.”
Furthermore, Akuei revealed that the SSRA has taken legal action against organizations involved in issuing “fake bank receipts” with no corresponding remittances to SSRA accounts.
He alleged that bank tellers, without the bank’s knowledge, colluded with some clearing agencies to create fraudulent payment records using fake stamps, with the funds being deposited into unauthorized accounts.
“Some of the fake receipts are stamped, and they are issued to the clearing agent and taken them to the government officials who also confirm them to be correct and goods are released.
“But in the bank statement of the government, there is no money. We are in court with some of those [organizations],”
Meanwhile, in his acceptance speech, South Sudan Freight Forwarders Association (SSFFA) president, Deng Daniel Ayuen said they would adhere to the principles and regulations set by the government.
“We should not go contrary against the government policies we must abide by, as per the constitution of the Republic of South Sudan,” he said.
SSFFA boss admitted to shortcomings but called for joint efforts to ceil off those leakages.
“I can agree that there are shortcomings, you see the challenges. Malpractices are always there, but it is up to your institution now to cooperate with the leadership so that we close all these gaps,” he said.