WCO provided technical assistance for establishing an advance ruling system in Lesotho
The WCO conducted a national Revenue Package Workshop on the development of an advance ruling system for classification and origin in Maseru, Lesotho, from 10 to 14 June 2019. The Workshop aimed at assisting the Lesotho Revenue Authority (LRA) in increasing its institutional capacity for further development of an advance ruling system for classification and origin, as set out in the WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation. To achieve this, it brought together twenty mid and high-level Customs officials and two experts from the WCO Secretariat to examine the remaining requirements for implementing such a system.
This Workshop was conducted under the HMRC-WCO-UNCTAD Programme, funded by the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) via Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) of the United Kingdom.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Thuto Mathetsa, Senior Manager of Tariff and Trade, thanked the WCO and the donors, for the support received and emphazised the importance and benefits of implementing the WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation. He also re-affirmed the strong commitment of LRA to the Mercator Implementation Plan 2018.
During the Workshop, the experts gave presentations on advance rulings and the tools and instruments developed under the Revenue Package, while LRA presented the current classification and origin systems in Lesotho and the progress made on the actions agreed at the previous Workshop.
The discussion focused, among others, on the modification of the legal framework and the current infrastructure, the development of new policies and procedures and the modification of the customs software to include the advance rulings.
At the end of the Workshop, the participants agreed on an action plan with proposals and a timeline for the implementation of an advance ruling system.
The Action Plan was presented to Mrs. Manneheng Mopeli, Head of Operations Support Division, who thanked the WCO for the continued support and expressed that LRA is committed to include the proposed Action Plan into the LRA’s Strategic Plan.
