The Transitory forms of Lesotho Customs Administration and Tax Revenue Collection Since the Post Independence Era Till the Early 2000s: Strategies, Organizational Structures, Trade Facilitation and Limitations
In a highly competitive global environment, customs administration plays a vital role in the growth of international trade and development of the globe by facilitating trade among countries. Its role is also essential in expediting the growth of revenue through imports and exports taxation. This requires efficient and effective customs systems and procedures that can significantly influence the economic competitiveness of a nation. Lesotho being a member of Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and World Trade Organization (WTO) has a remarkable history in Customs Administration (‘CA’). Overtime CA has been a useful strategy of the government for revenue collection and trade facilitation. The country has also undergone social, economic as well as political transformations which have brought significant changes that affected the revenue base and brought a mismatch between the revenue and expenditure. The continuous decline of the customs revenue accompanied by drawbacks in tax collection structures prompted the government to take drastic measures of reforming the then existing structures of customs revenue and tax collection. This was also done with a view to improve Lesotho’s position in the SACU arrangement. This paper then discusses two main aspects: first, CA structures, systems and strategies that have been in place overtime in Lesotho since the last 40 years of independence and beyond, secondly, CA as a strategy to enhance international trade and tax revenue collection in the country. The gist of analysis is on CA and tax revenue collection reforms and their impacts on trade, treating former reforms as part one and recent reforms as part two.
