[2019-05-07] Imports of goods into Angola will require hiring a national insurer

Source: Macauhub

Angolan companies will be forced to hire an Angolan insurance company when importing consumer goods and equipment, the chairman of the Angolan Agency for Regulation and Supervision of Insurance (Arseg) announced on Monday in Luanda.

Aguinaldo Jaime said that the Law on Contracting of Insurance for the Import of Goods, approved by the Economic Commission of the Council of Ministers on 26 April, is due to come into force in the next few months, imposing the new rule when importing goods by sea, land or air.

Contracting Goods Import Insurance is intended to implement one of the recommendations of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) for developing countries, with the aim of making t compulsory to take out goods import insurance with national insurers, with a view to preventing capital flight.

The chairman of Arseg, quoted by Angolan state news agency Angop, said that goods import insurance will reduce the pressure on the country’s foreign currency resources because the payments are made in kwanzas, which strengthens the role of the insurance sector in the market.

Jaime said that after the publication of the law in the national gazette, Diário da República, importers, insurers and the General Tax Administration will have three months to comply with the new law.

The chairman of Arseg also said that the law will allow, in situations of litigation between the importer and the supplier of goods abroad, the case to be solved by Angolan legal bodies rather than those based abroad.