Customs and administrative challenges are exacerbated by the fact that Ethiopia is land-locked and upwards of 90 percent of its foreign trade passes through a single port in neighboring Djibouti.  The GOE has established an electronic single-window service delivery for international trade and one-stop border posts at the Ethio-Djibouti and Ethio-Kenya borders. 

Customs clearance time has been reduced to approximately two weeks.  Ethiopian Customs Proclamation No. 859/2014 has been reformed under the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC) and focuses more on streamlining and modernizing trade facilitation processes rather than controlling licensed traders.  Customs procedures allow authorized importers to finalize administrative procedures electronically using minimal documentation. This has significantly reduced overall processing and clearance time. Several customs offices have been located inside industrial parks, further facilitating customs processing for firms operating there.  The maximum number of days given to collect goods from a dry port is 15 days; otherwise, 20% of the tax amount will be charged as a penalty.