Effectiveness and Efficiency of Artificial Intelligence in Boosting Customs Performance: A Case Study of RECTS at Uganda Customs Administration

The artificial intelligence (AI) revolution has great economic potential for customs operations. Indeed, some have already hailed AI ‘the new oil’ since it has become a resource for businesses to streamline processes. This may be an imperfect analogy, but it does capture the excitement and high expectations surrounding the AI-driven economy. AI is a sub-field of computer science that enables intelligence exhibited by machines. For example, in the East African community, the Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System (RECTS) is used to monitor cargo in transit from Mombasa in Kenya through Uganda to Rwanda and now in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This has transformed transit cargo management through deterring of dumping and diversion of transit cargo in real time. Previously, cargo would sometimes, if not most of the time, go unaccounted for while in transit, which caused government revenue leakage and business losses. This paper examines the global standards and actions in the uptake of AI for trade facilitation in smoothing customs operations. This study looks at how the uptake of AI has affected customs administration in terms of transit management and security of cargo as well as trade facilitation, which greatly reduces the cost of doing business by the private sector. Based on the study findings, the paper offers several recommendations for policy makers, including undertaking Private Public Partnerships (PPP), integration of RECTS with other Customs systems, well-planned change management and developing a pool of AI experts in Customs.