Burundi, Rwanda sign MoU on cross-border trade

Burundian and Rwandan revenue authorities have signed an initial bilateral agreement to establish a one-border post at Gasenyi on the Burundian side in the northeastern province of Kirundo and Nemba on the Rwandan side, a press release from the Burundi Revenue Authority (OBR) said on Thursday evening."The joint initiative aims to strengthen cross-border trade facilitation through harmonization of border controls and procedures to ensure effective mechanisms of border control. This will reduce the number of stops in the border trade and other transactions by combining border control activities between the Parties in one place," said the press release signed by Director General of the OBR Kieran Holmes.The press release said, "The implementation of the provisions of the MoU will require both countries to organize a joint training of border post staff to achieve common levels of understanding of the concept of operations inherent to the one- border post."The MoU will also allow the two revenue authorities, respectively the Burundi Revenue Authority (OBR) and the Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA), to achieve the maximum possible integration with documentation of border controls, procedures and systems for mutual success of the objectives contained in the agreement, said the press release.According to the press release, both countries should also maximize the use of information and communication technologies with the aim to encourage easy sharing of data on border.