The export of goods produced in Angola is exempt from customs duties under the new Customs Tariff, which will come into effect in 2018, the director for Institutional Communication of the General Tax Administration (AGT) told state newspaper Jornal de Angola.

The customs charge on the re-export of goods will in turn be increased by 20%, said Nickolas Neto, who described this measure as “a tax on selling goods imported by Angola in other countries.”

The director added that increasing the rate by 20% is not a protectionist measure, as it will only be applied when the imported products are exported, and does not cover domestic production.

The measure aims to inhibit the export of imported products that demand payment in foreign currency, although domestic and foreign importers who want to use Angola to re-export goods can use the international transit system.

Neto said that this customs procedure, included in the current Customs Tariff and in the 2017 version, allows the goods to be declared in Angola, in transit, with suspension of customs duties [without payment, with the exception of the service fee], and transit through the country to their final destination.

Also to promote the export of Angolan products, the service charge, currently 1.0% FOB (mode where the seller places the product on board a ship without additional costs), will be reduced to 0.5% “Ex-Works “(mode in which the seller is limited to selling the product and the buyer bears the transportation costs).

The durectors also told Jornal de Angola that the 2017 Customs Tariff should contribute to the diversification of the economy and to increasing national production, as well as to revenue collection, protection of national production, broadening of the tax base, reduce smuggling and counterfeiting and improving the living conditions of the population and the operation of the business sector. (macauhub)