Customs and Excise (General) (Amendment) Regulations, 2025 (No. 124)
Interest on customs and excise amounts under sections 125 and 202 is now the Bank Policy Rate plus 5% in local currency and 10% in foreign currency, replacing the 2019 fixed rate.
Section 178 of the Customs and Excise (General) Regulations, 2001, which prescribed the rate of interest, is repealed and replaced. The rate for the purposes of sections 125 and 202 of the Customs and Excise Act is now the Bank Policy Rate as revised from time to time plus five per cent for amounts in local currency, and ten per cent for amounts in foreign currency.
The practical effect is that the local-currency rate floats with the Reserve Bank's policy rate rather than sitting at a number fixed years earlier. Anyone carrying a customs debt in local currency should expect the interest to move when the policy rate moves.
The Customs and Excise (Rate of Interest) Notice, 2019 (SI 280 of 2019) is repealed, so the older standalone notice no longer runs alongside the regulations.
Worth noting for anyone filing these instruments: the citation "Customs and Excise (General) (Amendment) Regulations, 2025 (No. 124)" is used both here and by Statutory Instrument 35 of 2025, which makes an entirely different amendment. The number is not unique to this instrument.
No commencement date is stated; the regulations were gazetted in an Extraordinary Gazette dated 19 March 2025.
What changed
- Section 178 of the Customs and Excise (General) Regulations, 2001 is repealed and replaced.
- Interest for sections 125 and 202 of the Act in local currency becomes the Bank Policy Rate plus 5%.
- Interest on amounts in foreign currency is set at 10%.
- The Customs and Excise (Rate of Interest) Notice, 2019 (SI 280 of 2019) is repealed.
- The citation "(No. 124)" is shared with Statutory Instrument 35 of 2025, which makes a different amendment.
Who this affects
- importers and exporters carrying customs or excise debt
- clearing agents
- traders awaiting refunds of duty
- customs and tax advisers
Plain-language summary — not legal advice. Always read the full instrument.