Abel Kagumire, Commissioner Customs at Uganda Revenue Authority hands over the certificate to Mr Anil Damani, the Chief Executive Officer of Dembe Trading Enterprises Ltd and Adim Damani, Managing Director.
Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has granted Dembe trading Enterprises, one of the oldest and leading distribution houses in East Africa, the prestigious Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) license in recognition of its continued compliance with the various customs rules, processes and standards.
This was during the Authorized Economic Operator Awards Conference held at Speke Resort, Munyonyo, on 11th November 2022.
AEO is a trade facilitation program on the international movement of goods that have been approved by or on behalf of the Customs administration that complies with the World Customs Organization supply chain security standards. The recognition seeks to enhance trade by reducing the cost of doing business through simplifying customs procedures hence preferential treatment for the companies.
Receiving the certificate on behalf of the company, Mr Anil Damani, the Chief Executive Officer of Dembe Trading Enterprises Ltd applauded Uganda Revenue Authority and TradeMark East Africa for their efforts towards making cross border trade more convenient. He also commended the regulator for recognizing their contributions and granting the select few companies the AEO status to facilitate smooth business operations within Uganda and the EAC.
“We are excited to have received this certification as it signifies that we are highly compliant as a company, the certification is extremely important for us as it greatly improves the transactional speed of logistics within the landlocked confines of the state. We strive to do business according to the laws of the land and believe our foremost duty is to the citizens of Uganda. We therefore ensure we contribute to the development of the nation by complying with the tax requirements, and the relevant customs laws and regulations in our operations,” he said.
“Thank you URA and TradeMark East Africa for the role you play is ensuring that we can operate smoothly as a business and deliver on our customer promise. This certification means we can avail our products to our consumers in a timely manner since we will enjoy faster goods clearance, inspection and preferential treatment accorded at the customs and any other services by the regulator,” he concluded.
The primary targets for AEO are manufacturers, customs clearing agents, bonded warehouse keepers, importers, exporters, transporters, and freight forwarders.
Other benefits include priority treatment when Customs selects the goods for examination and improved cargo handling efficiency at the seaport that results in quick container and truck turn-around time to minimize demurrage and truck detention costs.
Dembe employs roughly over 1,000 people directly and many more indirectly. Dembe is a wholly owned Ugandan company and has been in existence for 25+years. It serves every major region, district, city, town and trading centre in the nation and manufactures a wide range of products from UBISCO biscuits to Odorex Sanitizers, wakisha, hermela, kreamy, snack attack, Rio, and snowman’s ice cream.
