A customs union is a type of free trade agreement (FTA) which involves the removal of tariff barriers between members, together with the acceptance of a Common External Tariff (CET) against non-members. Article XXIV, par. 7 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT 1947) stipulates that “any contracting party deciding to enter into a customs union or free-trade area, or an interim agreement leading to the formation of such a union or area, shall promptly notify the contracting parties and shall make available to them such information regarding the proposed union or area …”.

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In February 2020, the Nimule-Elegu border post, at the northern border of Uganda with South Sudan, officially started its operations as One Stop Border Post (OSBP). The facilities on the Ugandan side at Elegu were already inaugurated in November 2018. Now that the facilities on the South Sudan side are complete, the operationalisation works of OSBP should start soon, this implying a shift from the current “double stop” concept (where two separate sets of activities are performed in the country of exit first and in that of entry after), to a "single stop" process where the border agencies of the two States with inspection responsibilities on goods, persons and vehicles will carry out their functions in a combined and coordinated manner.

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