The Ministry of Finance in Mozambique approved new customs transit regulations under Ministerial Diploma No. 116/2013 of 8 August 2013. Mozambique Customs introduced new transit procedures in April 2013. Mozambican Clearing agents had been given adequate notice to put in place the required bond guarantees although they were not ready by implementation date. The victim to these agent’s unpreparedness was that the citizens of countries that move cargo through Mozambique and businesses suffered the consequences by way of (a) delayed delivery of merchandise, raw materials and or project equipment (b) high landed cost of various goods due to uncalled for additional unofficial transit payments (c) loss of production due to delayed receipt of raw materials or factory spares (d) high transport costs due to diversions to longer routing via Zambia for cargo from the Southern Corridor, (e) delayed realization of forex due to delays in processing of export transit approvals of the goods for shipping through Mozambique ports, etc.
To this end, the Mozambican Government has positively considered the plea of countries affected by goods that transit through Mozambique by exempting some products (tobacco, tea, sugar, cotton, etc) from monetary bonding and the reduction of bond values from 100% on containerized cargo to 20% or 35% on break-bulk cargo. The affected transiting business people highly appreciated this move as this would reduce the pressure on the available bond levels for other cargo not exempted.
Please read specific details in the attached Ministerial Diploma.