The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) ensures that WTO members grant economic operators the right to appeal decisions made by customs or other border officials. In addition, Art. 4 of the TFA provides that all Members, including Burundi, shall publish appeal or review procedures.
For decisions taken by the Office Burundais des Recettes (OBR), an appeal can be lodged under the East African Community Customs Management Act:
- A person directly aggrieved by the decision or omission of the Commissioner of Customs and Excise or any other officer on matters relating to customs, has the right to appeal against such decision or omission within 30 days from the date of the decision or omission.
- The appeal in question must be addressed to the Commissioner of Customs and Excise in writing and state the grounds on which it is based.
- Where the Commissioner of Customs and Excise is satisfied that, owing to absence from the Member State, illness or any other valid reason, the person aggrieved by the decision or omission of the Commissioner of Customs and Excise was unable to lodge the appeal within the prescribed time limit and that there was no negligence on the part of that person in the delay in lodging the appeal, the Commissioner of Customs and Excise may accept the lodging of that appeal,
- The Commissioner of Customs and Excise shall communicate his decision in writing to the appellant, stating the reasons for his decision, within a period not exceeding thirty days from the receipt of the appeal under sub-section (2) and such further information as the Commissioner may require from the appellant.
- Where the Commissioner of Customs and Excise has not communicated his decision to an appellant who has lodged an appeal for review within the prescribed time, the Commissioner of Customs and Excise shall be deemed to have taken the decision allowing the appeal.
- Pending the determination of an appeal under the provisions of this section, the Commissioner of Customs and Excise may, on the application of the person making the appeal, release all goods in respect of which the appeal has been made on payment of such duties as may be determined by the Commissioner of Customs and Excise or on the provision of adequate security for such duties and for such fines, if any, as may be determined by the Commissioner of Customs and Excise. A person who is dissatisfied with the decision of the Commissioner of Customs and Excise under section 229 may appeal to Administrative court.
A person who intends to appeal under this section shall make such appeal within forty-five days after the notification of the decision and shall reserve a copy of the appeal to the Commissioner.
As well as making it clear to traders how they can appeal against decisions taken by customs and border agencies, the Trade Information Portal helps traders to know who they can appeal to or complain to when they encounter a problem in trying to complete a trade procedure. For each step of a trade procedure published on the Trade Information Portal, a person to contact in case of appeal is indicated. This person is always the superior of the official or agent with whom the trader has to interact during the step and therefore has the authority to intervene if necessary.
The recourse route is always presented as in the example below:
