The Revenues and Customs Authority of Ethiopia is considering the reduction of the 20 million birr capital required of IT 
companies interested in supplying the electronic cargo tracking devices to be installed on freight tracks traveling to and from Port Djibouti.
The tax authority has not certified any suppliers yet because the established requirement proved to be a deterrent according to sources.
Complaints received from the IT sector has led ERCA officials to re-evaluate their requirements based on an assessment of practices in place in other countries.
It is to be remembered that ERCA required a company to have 20 million birr in capital, a five year contract with a major IT supplier, and present a performance bond worth 2 million birr to certify as a vendor for the tracking devices.ERCA decided to launch an electronic cargo tracking system on the road between Addis Ababa and Port Djibouti to track and monitor the transit of goods, to reduce customary theft that added up to 1.4% of commodities exported in the last fiscal year according to statistics from the International Cargo Securities Council.
Such acts of theft have negatively affected the image of Ethiopian exports on the international market claimed Belay Desta, Head of the Border Directorate with ERCA.
Efforts to control the crime through manual checks have not been successful with criminals getting more sophisticated said Belay.
The electronic tracking system is expected to keep customs informed of the activity of each truck on the Addis-Djibouti corridor, from departure to arrival in real time.
Source: Addis Fortune
