If you intend to transport goods from one international border to another through the territory of Zambia, you must declare the goods to Customs by following procedure:

Transit Procedure

• A consignment arrives at the border.
• The Owner/Importer of the goods might have a Clearing Agent or not.
• If not, the Owner of the goods or their Representative(s), identifies the agent at the border.
• The agent identified should have a bond guarantee to move goods in transit.
• A formal declaration is made to Customs by th20 and captures it on Customs Operating System (Asycuda World).
• Accompanying the Declaration Form will be the Commercial Invoice or Contract of Sale; Bill of Lading or Transport Waybill; Manifest.
• The Declaration and supporting documents are then submitted to the customs office.
• The declaration is processed and finalized by Customs to allow movements of goods in transit under the Customs Clearing Agent’s Bond to the destination, which happens to be border port of exit.
• If the transit is by road, the goods being moved must report at the port of exit within five (5) days from date of exit from the Customs Yard at the port of entry. The corresponding period for transits by rail is 30 days.
• The goods/consignment may were deemed so be subjected to physical inspection by Customs Officials to ascertain the declaration or not, depending on how risky the Commodity is, Importer or Mode of transport used.
• If the consignment is a containerized cargo, a Customs Seal is put on the container, so that it is not tempered with until it reaches its final destination.
• If the shipment is deemed to be more risky, it may be selected for real time electronic monitoring of its movement using the Electronic Cargo Tracking System (ECTS).
• Upon reaching the border, the transit documents are presented to Customs officials, the consignment is inspected to verify if the seals, which were put at source, are intact.
• If everything is in order, the transit is acquitted in the system (Asycuda World) and allowed to proceed out of the Zambian Territory through the designated border exit port.

Clearing Agents’ Fees

Clearing agency fee is not regulated by Customs and hence the charges differ from agency to agency or company to company. There is no standard charge as of now.