Parliament passes bill reducing, eliminating import duties
21 Nov 2011, 5:42 PM
Parliament today passed a bill proposed by the government under its economic reform package to amend the Export-Import Act of 1979 to reduce and eliminate import duties for a wide range of goods.
The amendment bill was passed today with unanimous consent of 60 MPs present and voting.
Among the items for which custom duties would be eliminated include construction material, foodstuffs, agricultural equipment, medical devices, passenger vessels and goods used for tourism services.
However, the bill was passed with an amendment to charge a Rf10,000 (US$650) annual fee for passenger vessels and no change to tariffs for spare parts. While import duties were eliminated for construction material such as cement, glass, tin, aluminium, plywood and plastic fittings, an import duty of five percent will be levied on tiles, which was reduced from the previous 25 percent.
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