Rwanda Importer of Record At a Glance:
Importer of Record
- Your Importer of Record should make sure all of your equipment is approved with RURA/RSB boards
- RURA specifically regulates the import of telecommunications equipment
- Sporadic changes in government rules and regulations can cause unexpected changes in the customs process
IT Shipping & Logistics
- Familiarity with ground transportation providers in Rwanda is essential to ensure that equipment is properly transported and stored
Importer of Record and Pre-Shipment Documentation
When importing IT infrastructure into Rwanda, your Importer of Record provider needs to manage:
- RURA/RSB compliance
- Changing Government Rules and Regulations
They also need to stay up-to-date on sudden changes to government rules and regulations, which can unexpectedly affect the success of your shipment.
RURA/RSB Compliance
One of the major concerns for shipping IT infrastructure into any country, let alone Rwanda, is understanding the regulatory requirements that need to be resolved prior to shipping. In Rwanda, the regulatory requirements are published by RURA and RSB. Approval from these regulatory boards is required for any clients who need to import telecommunications devices, like routers, switches and access points.
Importers need to obtain a RURA Type Material Certificate as well. Proper implementation of this form includes retrieving product information from OEMs, pulling licensing agreements, and obtaining the proper signatures from clients, distributors, and other parties. If any of these documents are missing, it’s highly likely the shipment will get stuck in customs.
Before we ship any of our client’s equipment, we always do an international trade and compliance assessment based on the shipment’s origin country, destination country, and bill of materials. This includes classifying the equipment based on its HS Codes, ECCNs, etc. on behalf of our clients.
Changing Government Rules and Regulations
It is not unheard of for compliance regulations to change suddenly and unexpectedly. Political, economic, or geographical changes cause changes in compliance requirements.
The scale to which these regulations are enforced is constantly changing. Often, components that were unimportant a year before are suddenly the major determinant of approval.
IT Shipping & Logistics
FGX utilizes our private IT supply chain to ship all of our client’s IT equipment. To learn more about how it’s different than some of the alternatives you may be considering, please feel free to read:
Industry knowledge specific to the region is crucial to ensuring that the hardware gets from the airport to the datacenter safely and quickly. Your provider must ensure that the hardware is properly stored and protected throughout the entire process. FGX once saw a trucking provider ship hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of IT hardware in an open-bed truck. Obviously, this is less than ideal for transporting sensitive materials that often need to be temperature controlled and protected from outside elements like sand and dust.
FGX manages all of our client’s shipments door-to-door (or door-to-data center). This case study showcases how we navigated IT logistics and importation into Rwanda at the time that it was written. Regulations and challenges are constantly changing and exact shipping requirements may have changed. To learn more about FGX and how our global shipping platform can help your company, reach out here.
