In developing countries, cases where trucks or containers are offloaded in a transit country without these operations being recorded are very frequent. Transit operations carry a high revenue risk for customs administrations, especially when goods are subject to high duty or tax rates and this is why Customs usually put in place strict measures to protect their financial interests against the risk of illegal diversion of goods to their markets while in transit through their territory. One of these measures is represented by the request of an insurance bond or a bank guarantee that makes possible for the administration to recover more easily duties owed in case of irregular discharge of the transit procedure or when acts of fraud take place.

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A new report published by COMESA examines the informal economy in 7 COMESA Member States (DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe), where government authorities are seeking ways not only to guide the development of the informal economy, but also to increase formal small-scale cross-border trade flows leading to higher revenue, as well as greater security and higher incomes for small-scale cross-border traders.

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