Ethiopiaâ€™s international trade is regulated by the Ethiopian Customs Commission (ECC) andrnother governmental authorities, namely, the Ethiopian Food and Drug Authority (EFDA) thatrnregulate import & export of drugs, medical supplies or instruments. The custom-clearancernprocess is mandatory for the efficient functioning of the pharmaceutical supply chain program.rnAll around the globe, clearing pharmaceutical shipments from the port of entry is incompetentrnand time-consuming activity that leads to financial losses due to higher storage fees and damagernto the goods. Though a lot of studies done in Ethiopia on factors that contribute to the delay ofrncustoms clearance of pharmaceuticals, this particular study was done focusing on some of thernfactors in ECC bole branch office, namely, lack of collaboration, complying with documentaryrnrequirements, inadequate and incompetent officers and problem in product classification andrngoods valuation. The study employed cross-sectional study and qualitative study in 164 privaternpharmaceutical importers in Addis Ababa. Both quantitative and qualitative data collectionrnmethods were used in the study. The quantitative data were collected using structuredrnquestionnaires and analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. And the qualitative data were collectedrnthrough document review. The research finding reveals that there is customs clearance delay inrnclearing pharmaceuticals from Bole Airport and lack of collaboration between the customs officernbeing the most important factor. The following recommendations have been forwarded thernauthority should implement coordinated intervention, the customs office should providerncontinuous training to its officers, the authority should hire more skilled manpower to alleviaternthe shortage of customs officers, the authority should implement a fully automated and a singlernwindow service, the authority should implement post release auditing, importers should be loyalrnin submitting the true transaction value and certificate of origin and importers should preparernthe required complete documents before the shipment arrives.rnKey Words: