Uganda Revenue Authority v TATA Uganda Limited
High Court, Civil Appeal No. 0057 of 2021. July to December 2025. Coram: Hon. Justice Ocaya Thomas O.R.
Customs Classification of Lozenges · The Doctrine of Estoppel/ Legitimate Expectation · Difference between Medicaments (HS 3004) and Confectionery (HS 1704)
Herbal cough lozenges were cleared duty-free as medicine for four years, then reclassified as sweets.
The situation
An importer cleared herbal cough lozenges as medicaments at 0% duty. In 2018 an audit reclassified them as sugar confectionery and assessed UGX 726,666,331. The Tribunal set the assessment aside.
How it was resolved
The High Court dismissed the Revenue Authority's appeal on every ground. An email said to contain a World Customs Organization ruling was not shown to be authentic, and such opinions are not binding anyway. The National Drug Authority's evidence showed the lozenges were medicinal. And having approved the imports for over four years, the authority could not charge duty retrospectively, though it could change its view for the future.
What a practitioner takes from it
Evidence from the regulator of the product (here the National Drug Authority) can decide a classification case.
A World Customs Organization opinion is persuasive, not binding, and must be shown to be genuine.