Circular No. 05/EFI/2022, October 3 - Procedures for Late Payment of Invoices Related to the Import of Goods and Services

Bank of Mozambique
Administration

FINANCIAL STABILITY DEPARTMENT

CIRCULAR NO. 05/EFI/2022
Maputo, October 3, 2022

SUBJECT: PROCEDURES FOR LATE PAYMENT OF INVOICES RELATED TO THE IMPORT OF GOODS AND SERVICES

Given the need to establish specific procedures regarding the late payment of invoices for the import of goods and services, the Bank of Mozambique, pursuant to paragraph 4 of Article 81 and paragraph 5 of Article 83, both of Notice No. 20/GBM/2017 of December 27, as amended by Notice No. 3/GBM/2022 of July 14, hereby determines:

1. The verification of documents for payment purposes stipulated in paragraph 3 of Article 81 of Notice No. 20/GBM/2017 of December 27, as amended by Notice No. 3/GBM/2022 of July 14 (hereinafter referred to solely as the Notice), when pertaining to the import of goods carried out in the period after March 31, 2019, shall be conducted by the intermediary bank based on the data contained in the electronic platform where the issuance process of the Commitment Terms runs, and the confirmation of settlement shall be carried out on the same platform.

2. The verification process for payment purposes stipulated in paragraph 3 of Article 81 and paragraph 4 of Article 83, both of the Notice, when pertaining to the import of goods carried out in the period up to March 31, 2019, or the import of services in general, regardless of the date of their execution, shall be conducted by the intermediary bank in compliance with the procedures described in the following subparagraphs:

   a) After verifying the documents and confirming the accuracy of the information regarding the existence of overdue obligations, the bank shall process the payment, taking into account the registration of already paid Unique Documents or invoices;

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b) In the case of goods import, upon completion of the operation, the intermediary bank must invalidate or cancel the Unique Document (UD) and proceed to affix a stamp confirming the late payment on the invoice or debit note; c) In the case of services import, upon completion of the operation, the bank must proceed to affix a stamp on the invoice or debit note, confirming the late payment arising from the service provision contract.

3. The invoice or debit note is requested for the purpose of comparing the amount stated therein with that indicated in the Unique Document or the service provision contract, including any addenda, and in case of discrepancy, the amount recorded in the Unique Document or the service provision contract, including addenda, shall prevail.

4. For subsequent verification purposes, the bank is responsible for preserving the documentary file that constitutes the process.

5. Without prejudice to compliance with the general duty to report foreign exchange operations carried out under this Circular on the Meticalnet platform, banks must, specifically and separately, submit to the Bank of Mozambique every Monday, via the Bank Supervision Application (BSA), information regarding payments made in the previous week, in the format of the table below and in an editable Excel file.

No.	Borrower Name (Importer)	NUIT	UCR	Declaration Number	Currency	Total Value of Commitment Terms	Amount Paid Abroad	Remaining Amount	Customs Broker Name	Date of Invoice or Declaration
1
2
3

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6. Banks must, for each of their importer clients, compile information on all invoices in their possession with payments pending for more than 2 years.

7. The information referred to in the preceding paragraph must be sent to the Bank of Mozambique within 30 days from the effective date of this Circular, and must contain the following elements:
   a) The identification of the importer; b) The description of the import; c) The total outstanding amount; and d) The repayment schedule for the total outstanding amount.

8. Failure to comply with the provisions of this Circular is subject to sanctions under foreign exchange legislation.

9. This Circular enters into force on November 1, 2022.

Questions regarding the interpretation and application of this Circular must be submitted to the Licensing and Foreign Exchange Control Department of the Bank of Mozambique

BANK OF MOZAMBIQUE
Financial Stability Department

Benedita Maria Guimino
Administrator