Single window valuation system cargo tracking

5.5 Supporting Documents of Goods Declaration
Supporting documents and goods declaration shall constitute 
a single indivisible legal instrument upon acceptance of the 
declaration. Supporting documents must be submitted in English 
or Amharic. If they are in another language, they may need to be 
translated by a licensed translator to be processed during the goods 
declaration.
The following supporting documents shall be submitted with 
presentation of the goods declarations of imported and exported 
goods:
• transportation document; invoice;
• bank permit;
• packing list;
• certificate of origin; and
• other documents demanded by ERCA and relevant for 
compliance, e.g. letters from regulatory bodies.
In principle, originals of supporting documents shall be submitted to 
customs. However, where there are adequate reasons, the declarant 
may submit, and ERCA may accept, copies of the necessary 
supporting documents. The declarant is required to present a 
guarantee to use copies of supporting documents. The types of 
guarantee and time limits are the following:
a) Letter of guarantee for government organizations administered 
through budget and Insurance guarantee or cash for others;
b) Where the guarantee is needed to get duty exemption letter or 
the use of export incentive scheme, the amount must cover the 
duties and taxes;
c) The amount of the guarantee for international airport customs 
users is based on the tax or duty amount:

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ETHIOPIAN CUSTOMS GUIDE -
MARCH 2017
40
32 Failure to furnish the documents in these given times results in forfeiture of the guarantee or 
security given.
33 “Adequate reasons” is not qualified in the Customs Proclamation or any directives; the deci-
sion depends on ERCA.
• In case of telegram transfers, 50% of the total duties and taxes 
payable;
• In case of credit or cash against documents, 25% of the total 
duties and taxes payable;
d) The amount of the guarantee for other customs branch users is: 
• In case of a telegram transfer, 5% of the total duties and taxes 
payable;
• In case of credit or cash against document, 2.5% of the total 
duties and taxes payable;
e) The time limit for the above guarantee is two months, which can 
be extended by one month.
32
If there are adequate reasons
33
explaining why supporting 
documents cannot be submitted in time and in full, ERCA may 
nevertheless accept the declaration if the information available is 
sufficient to calculate duties and taxes and if the declarant provides 
a guarantee to produce the documents within the time limit 
proposed by ERCA; the guarantees are identical to the ones listed 
above.
Additionally, a provisional goods declaration can be made when the 
declarant, for credible reasons, does not have all the information for 
the declaration, but can submit the specifics necessary for customs 
assessment, and if the declarant agrees to present the final goods 
declaration within a fixed period. A separate tariff assessment may 
be done for the final declaration.